Bill Belichick reached out to the New York Jets about their head coaching opening before accepting the job at North Carolina, according to a source familiar with the matter.
The 72-year-old Belichick was introduced as the new football coach at North Carolina on Thursday. However, he had recently contacted the Jets, who fired their head coach Robert Saleh on October 8 and made defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich the interim coach.
There were no official meetings or discussions between Belichick and the Jets, according to the source, who spoke to The Associated Press on Saturday under the condition of anonymity since neither side has publicly commented on the situation.
The Athletic was the first to report the contact between Belichick and the Jets, and the New York Post stated that Belichick personally reached out to the team — which was unexpected due to his tense relationship with the franchise.
Belichick has criticized the Jets and their owner, Woody Johnson, in recent television appearances. The Jets are currently 3-10 and will miss the playoffs for the 14th consecutive season, the longest active playoff drought in the NFL. The team is also looking for a new general manager after firing Joe Douglas on November 19.
Belichick was an assistant coach under Bill Parcells with the Jets from 1997 to 1999 and was set to become the team’s head coach when Parcells stepped down. However, Belichick chose to resign after just one day and pursued the same job in New England.
A trade was arranged, and Belichick ended up with the Patriots, where he won six Super Bowls with quarterback Tom Brady.
In 2007, Jets coach Eric Mangini, a former assistant of Belichick, helped spark the Spygate scandal, in which the Patriots were fined for illegally videotaping the Jets’ coaching signals during a game.
Belichick left the Patriots after last season, bringing an end to one of the most successful coaching careers in NFL history. His 333 career regular-season and playoff wins are second only to Don Shula’s 347, and his 31 playoff wins are the most in league history.
Last offseason, Belichick interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons’ head coaching position, but he was not part of the NFL this season.
