New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick doused speculations that he will leave the team and join the New York Giants next season. The New York Daily News reported that Belichick sees “an opening” to join the Giants following the release of ESPN’s lengthy article about the feud within the Patriots. However, Belichick doused the report once and for all during his Monday press conference, answering “absolutely” when asked if he intends to coach the Patriots for the 19th straight season. Per WEEI.com, Belichick also refused to answer the rumors, saying he’s interested in getting the team ready for their Saturday game against the Tennessee Titans in the divisional round.
The Titans beat the Kansas City Chiefs, 22-21, in the wild-card game.
Brady says relationship with Belichick remains the same
The rumors connecting Belichick to the Giants surfaced after Adam Schefter of ESPN revealed the rift between the head coach and quarterback Tom Brady’s trainer/friend Alex Guerrero. The feud started when Belichick banned Guerrero from boarding team flights and staying on the sideline during games. While Brady hasn’t spoken about it, Matt Burke of Metro said it could create a strain in his relationship with Belichick, who could leave the Patriots and join the Giants when push comes to shove.
However, Brady clarified that his relationship with Belichick remains the same as it was 18 years ago when they started their partnership that has led to five Super Bowl wins for the Patriots.
“There is no coach I would rather play for,” Brady told Westwood One Radio host Jim Gray during an interview. Earlier, Patriots team owner Robert Kraft told The MMQB that he expects Belichick to return as head coach next season.
Belichick responds to ESPN story
While he claimed that he never read the piece written by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham about the power struggle within the Patriots, Belichick addressed this during his press conference.
“I'm not really interested in responding to all those random, and I would say in a lot of cases, baseless comments,” said Belichick when asked about the article.
Wickersham claimed that Belichick was furious when he was mandated by Kraft to trade Jimmy Garoppolo after Brady expressed his intention to play into his mid-40s. The article said Belichick was planning to make Garoppolo his starting quarterback, but Kraft wanted to stick with the 40-year-old Brady as the team’s signal-caller. Despite his objection, Belichick followed Kraft’s order, trading Garoppolo to the San Francisco 49ers for a 2018 second-round pick.
