LeGarrette Blount didn’t quite answer the question when he was asked how long New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick will go before retiring. But Blount did indicate what might be keeping the 69-year-old coach around.
“I think he’s going to be for a while — at least until he proves that he don’t need 12,” Blount told NBC Sports Boston’s Phil Perry in the week before the Super Bowl.
When Blount says 12, he clearly means Tom Brady, who retired this offseason after winning a Super Bowl in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Brady proved he didn’t need Belichick to have success in Tampa. The Patriots coach, however, has yet to prove he can be truly successful without the greatest quarterback of all time. Last offseason, the Patriots made their first playoff appearance in the post-Brady era but lost to the Buffalo Bills, 47-17.
Whenever Belichick does retire, Blount thinks the Patriots should be sure to make Belichick a part of the process of selecting his replacement.
“I think Bill is locked in and he’s going to be locked into it as long as he can — as long as he needs to be to find someone that he’s comfortable with taking over the reins,” Blount said. “I know he’s not the one that’s hiring the next head coach but I know they’re definitely going to involve him in the process. They would be dumb not to.”
There’s no one clearly in line to be Belichick’s successor after Josh McDaniels left the Patriots to join the Las Vegas Raiders. New England has a few candidates — Jerod Mayo and Belichick’s son Steve Belichick — but Belichick has made zero indication he’s considering retirement. So it’s too early to look at the in-house candidates. They, like McDaniels, could leave in the coming years.
