Bill Belichick, the legendary former head coach of the New England Patriots, made news on Wednesday by creating his first ever post on Instagram.
Normally, this would not be notable in the slightest. But this falls into the realm of “news” because of Belichick’s many years of referring to social media as “InstaFace,” “SnapFace,” and various other purposely wrong combinations of social media platforms.
You add his IG presence with the half-dozen media jobs he’s picked up for this football season, and it’s almost as if Belichick is a completely changed man from the gruff, football-only genius who won six Super Bowls with the Patriots in his 24 seasons at the helm.
Bill O’Brien, his former offensive coordinator and current head football coach of Boston College, does not believe Belichick’s recent foray into the media world means the 72-year-old is done coaching.
Quite the opposite, actually.
“If you look at everything he’s doing, it has something to do with football,” said O’Brien this morning on The Greg Hill Show. “So he’s able to watch the tape, and talk football with all the different people he’s talking to, and review games and things like that.
“So I think he’s definitely staying sharp, in my opinion, to be a coach again.”
Despite this hunch from O’Brien, he said with a laugh that he was surprised his former boss had joined Instagram.
“You know what was classic is, he called it ‘InstaFace’ - which I mean, clearly he knows it’s not ‘InstaFace,’ it’s Instagram,” said O’Brien. “But yeah, I was pretty surprised by that. But you know, he’s a busy guy, he’s got a lot going on. It’s pretty cool.
“He’s staying busy in his year off.”
O’Brien is coming off an enormous game on Monday night on the road against #10 Florida State, as his Eagles upset the Seminoles 28-13 in the standalone, national spotlight game on ESPN to open their 2024 season.
On Sunday, O’Brien’s former team will open their 2024 season on the road in Cincinnati, as the Patriots take on the Bengals.
According to BetMGM, the Patriots are currently 8.5-point underdogs, which makes them the biggest underdog heading into Week 1 in the entire NFL.
With the season opener on tap for New England and with the big win for BC in-hand, Greg Hill couldn’t help but ask O’Brien the obvious question:
“Educated guess, Bill O’Brien,” said Greg. “Who wins more games this season, you or the Patriots?”
Predictably, O’Brien shut that one down.
“I am not going down that road,” said O’Brien. “No, no - c’mon.”
With his Eagles hosting the FCS-level Duquesne Dukes on Saturday afternoon, O’Brien will more-than-likely be looking at a 2-0 record on the season before the Patriots even take their first snap.
How long will it take the Patriots to get to two wins in 2024?