New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick hasn't hinted at the possibility of retiring any time soon. At the age of 69, he still has ample time to surpass legendary coaches George Halas and Don Shula on the all-time wins list.
But Belichick's final act is already underway, and according to ESPN writer and author Seth Wickersham, the Patriots' longtime leader won't call it quits until he puts the franchise in a position to contend for championships again.
"He has so much pride. Whenever he walks away from the Patriots, he wants them set up well," Wickersham told the Tiki and Tierney show on Wednesday. "And a key ingredient of that means, being set up well at quarterback. He won the lottery with Tom Brady and obviously developed the hell out of him. He drafted a Super Bowl-caliber replacement in Jimmy Garoppolo, who he ended up having to ship to San Francisco.
"When they drafted Mac Jones, I thought of him more as a legacy piece than just drafting to fit a glaring need at that position. He just has so much pride... Whenever he walks away, he wants to hand the team over to his successor in good shape, so that one of the pieces of his legacy is that he always made decisions with the best interest of the organization in mind."
Jones, who was selected 15th overall by New England this past spring, didn't look the least bit fazed by the primetime pressure of opposing Brady and the Tampa Bay Buccaneers last Sunday. The Alabama product completed 31 of 40 passes for a career-high 275 yards with two touchdowns and one interception in the Patriots' 19-17 loss, and completed 19 consecutive passes, the longest streak by a rookie over the last 40 seasons.
New England (1-3) will visit the Houston Texans (1-3) in a Week 5 matchup on Sunday, Oct. 10. According to FiveThirtyEight's projections, the Patriots have just a 23-percent chance to reach the playoffs and an 8-percent chance to win the AFC East.
Under Belichick's stewardship, the Patriots have never missed the playoffs in back-to-back seasons, nor has the organization finished with a losing record in consecutive years since 1992-93.
The entire Patriots conversation between Wickersham and Tiki and Tierney can be accessed in the audio player above.
You can follow the Tiki and Tierney Show on Twitter @TikiAndTierney and Tom Hanslin @TomHanslin.