Bill Belichick walks back comments about Patriots’ future
Throughout his Patriots’ tenure, Bill Belichick has mainly made headlines for what he hasn’t said, opposed to what he did say.
His comments, or lack thereof, continued to be read between the lines, creating speculation and rumors galore. But since we’ve seen a more atypical version of the head coach over the last few years, we’re experiencing something we haven’t dealt with before; seeing glimpses of the real Belichick.
He and Robert Kraft stirred the pot intentionally or not when speaking to the media this past week at the annual owner’s meeting in Phoenix, and now Belichick is walking back the most discussed comment made from his media availability.
After sticking to his usual routine of dealing with the media for nearly a half hour, Belichick was asked what he would say to Patriots fans looking for a reason to be optimistic about the team’s upcoming season.
His response? “The last 25 years.”
Several news outlets ran with this quote, either validating their opinions on Belichick being the greatest of all time with no need for worry or suggesting he was out of touch with the issues at hand since the 2020 season.
Because it garnered so much attention, he spoke to the Boston Globe on Wednesday while at Louisiana State’s pro day to clarify his comments.
"“We’re not resting on our past laurels; that’s not the message to the team or the fans. We have never operated that way and aren’t now.”"
Although he has every right to remind us of his tremendous success since becoming the Patriots’ head coach, it’s also a right for the fans to question the future ahead after seeing three underwhelming seasons.
It was a very out-of-character remark for Belichick to say, especially as he’s known for looking ahead to the future. So his clarification just two days later seems to align with what we’re used to hearing from him.
As far as the 2023 season goes, it’s certainly shaping up to be far better than last season from a preparedness standpoint, at least.
How the rest of the offseason will go, including free agency and the draft, will determine much of the success for next season and beyond, including their stance within the AFC east. And hopefully, it’ll be back on track to what we got used to in Foxboro.