There's probably not a person in the world other than Bill Belichick who knows when the six-time Super Bowl Champion head coach will retire. But for his part, Patriots owner Robert Kraft apparently hopes that he has at least another decade with Belichick at the helm in New England.
Ahead of Belichick's 70th birthday Saturday, Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk recalled a conversation he had with Kraft about how long the Patriots hope to retain the services of perhaps the greatest coach in sports history:
"Several years ago at the league meetings, Robert Kraft told me that he wants to see Bill Belichick coach into his 80s. He wants to see him perform at a high level like a Warren Buffett or a Rupert Murdoch well past his 80th birthday -- he believes he can."
Belichick has been the head coach and de-facto top executive in the front office since 2000. Over that time, the Patriots have posted a 254-99 regular season record, while going a staggering 30-12 in the postseason. When you factor in the 37-45 record that Belichick had between the regular season and playoffs during five years as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in the 1990s, he's got 321 career wins. Belichick will almost certainly pass George Halas for second most wins in NFL history in 2022, as the Patriots will need to win just four games. He's very much within striking distance of Don Shula's all-time record at 347.
It's long been said that Belichick doesn't want to hand off an organization in disarray to whoever his successor is. As he continues to build the next great Patriots team, one would think Belichick would like to groom his successor as well. Maybe that's long-time defensive coordinator and former Detroit Lions head coach Matt Patricia, who currently serves as the senior football advisor for the Patriots. It may also be his son, Steve, who is the outside linebackers coach.
Will Belichick -- who famously once quipped that he wouldn't coach into his 70s like Marv Levy did with the Buffalo Bills -- want to coach into his 80s? Who knows. The guess here is probably not. But whether he'd admit it or not, Belichick would probably like to win a seventh Super Bowl title as a head coach, matching the amount Tom Brady has won as a player. And if Brady wins an eighth? Then all bets are off.
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