New York Giants great Carl Banks doesn't believe Bill Belichick will return to New York. However, he ... [+]
New York Giants great Carl Banks is very familiar with Bill Belichick.
The two-time Super Bowl champion linebacker has known Belichick since he was 21 years old, when he was drafted with the third overall pick by the Giants in the 1984 NFL Draft. Belichick was serving as the linebackers coach and special teams coordinator of New York in 1984 before being promoted to defensive coordinator in 1985.
Belichick would serve in that role for five seasons before taking the Cleveland Browns’ head coach job in 1995. Banks would actually eventually follow Belichick to Cleveland, playing his final two seasons in the NFL under his old Giants defensive coordinator.
Banks expressed surprise over Belichick not landing a coaching job this season. However, he does believes it’s for the “best” moving forward for Belichick’s coaching career.
“I am,” says Banks about being surprised that Belichick wasn’t hired in a one-on-one interview. “But I think that might be for the best. Bill's a very analytical person and he had been so close to it for so long that — I don't doubt he would have done a good job landing in Atlanta — but to be able to step away and see the game, I think it's going to be good for him.”
The 72-year-old Belichick has actually been coaching every season for 49 consecutive seasons in the NFL, starting in 1975 when he began his career as a special assistant with the Baltimore Colts. Because he didn’t land a coaching job for the 2024 season, Belichick will instead work and appear as a on-screen talent on the Manningcast, the alternative live broadcast for Monday Night Football featuring Manning brothers, Peyton and Eli.
Banks admits that his former coach didn’t have a great “last few years” in the post-Tom Brady era. Belichick went 29-38 (.432) during his last four seasons with the New England Patriots, including a career-worst 4-13 season in his final season in New England.
“But he didn't have a great last few years in New England and the talent was really starting to fall off,” says Banks. “I think that's the area where he can step back and see the game and refresh on how he wants to approach it. I think it was a good thing — but I was shocked a bit.”
While Banks sides with the belief that it’s a good thing that Belichick is sitting out the season, he also sides with the belief that a lot of the stuff coming out about the former Patriots head coach was “disingenuous.” There were critical reports regarding Belichick’s coaching tenure in New England during the time of the head coaching hiring process and following it. Furthermore, the Apple
“Some of the stuff that was coming out about him, I thought was truly disingenuous,” says Banks. “He puts into the game what he asks of players. As the game evolved and the way you coach players evolved, he's been a guy who's been flexible. But he's never compromised the core principles of winning. Unless he's doing something stupid in practice — but just demanding that you follow the fundamentals for winning — I don't think that's a bad thing. Certain players didn't like it, but it was a very huge deal of those guys. Then the documentary came out, and I thought it was just unfair to him.”
Banks doubles down on the notion that the documentary “absolutely” impacted the the decision for teams not to hire the eight-time Super Bowl champion coach, mentioning the teams were likely looking for a reason not to hire Belichick. Belichick had been considered the favorite to land the Atlanta Falcons’ heading coaching job after interviewing with owner Arthur Blank. However, the franchise decided to take an unexpected turn and instead hired Raheem Morris.
The Giants great does believe Belichick will coach again, arguing that he’s within striking distance of former Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula’s record for wins. He’s 15 victories away from surpassing Shula for the all-time wins record (including postseason) and 27 wins away from surpassing him on the all-time regular season wins list.
While the idea of Belichick returning to his old stomping grounds in New York has been mentioned as a hypothetical scenario, Banks doesn’t believe that to be the case. He believes the team will be sticking with Brian Daboll as its head coach for the long term.
“If I didn't love Brian Daboll, I would love for Belichick to end his tenure as Giants coach — but that's not going to happen,” says Banks. “He's not going to be able to finish it as Giants head coach because Brian Daboll — I believe — is going to be there for awhile. He's a bright young coach and gets today's game and he's actually from the Belichick and Nick Saban tree.”
And while Banks is ruling out the idea of a Belichick return to New York, he does believe the Dallas Cowboys would be an ideal landing spot if they do finally decide to part ways with Mike McCarthy. Belichick had also been linked to the Cowboys’ head coaching job, although the team never actually interviewed him.
“100%, because they have talent,” Banks says on the idea that Belichick would be interested in the Cowboys’ head coaching job. “They are a team that would take to his coaching style. If he gets ahold of Micah Parsons — the things he'll do with Parsons — it'll be like Dexter's Laboratory. That would be a spot — if McCarthy doesn't make it happen — Belichick would be there right away. The one thing about the Cowboys is, they have great personnel. Say what you want about Jerry Jones, but they have an eye for picking talent in Dallas.”
