Bill Belichick Fires Back at Robert Kraft's Claim That He Took a 'Big Risk' in Hiring Him as Patriots Head Coach

NEED TO KNOW

• Bill Belichick is pushing back against recent comments made by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft
• Belichick told ESPN that it was he who took a big risk, not Kraft, when he took the job in 2000
• The two parted ways when Belichick left the Patriots in January 2024

Bill Belichick and New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft have differing views on their past history.

In a statement to ESPN, the former Patriots coach is pushing back on Kraft’s recent comments about how hiring Belichick was a “big risk.”

"As I told Robert multiple times through the years, I took a big risk by taking the New England Patriots head coaching job," Belichick, 73, said. "I already had an opportunity to be the head coach of the New York Jets, but the ownership situation was unstable."

The now-North Carolina Tar Heels head coach’s assertion comes on the heels of Kraft’s appearance on the Dudes on Dudes podcast last month, in which he told hosts and former Patriots players Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski his own version of how they came together.

“The one that got questioned the most was in 1999,” Kraft said. “I gave up a No. 1 draft pick for a coach that had only won a little over 40 percent of his games to get him out, I don’t know if there are any Jets fans here.”

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He added, “I think getting Bill Belichick to come to the Patriots in 1999 was a big risk and I got hammered in the Boston media, but he was with us for 24 years and we did okay.”

However, in Belichick’s mind, it was he who was taking the risk when he joined up with the Patriots. 

"I had been warned by multiple previous Patriots coaches, as well as other members of other NFL organizations and the media, that the New England job was going to come with many internal obstacles," Belichick told ESPN. "I made it clear that we would have to change the way the team was managed to regain the previously attained success."

Belichick was able to make do with the constraints: Over more than two decades with the team, the coach helped guide Tom Brady and his teammates to six Super Bowl wins.

The split between the two was initially reported to be amicable, when Belichick announced he was stepping down from coaching the team in January 2024.

The Patriots announced that they had “mutually agreed to part ways” with Belichick at the time. But a week earlier, Kraft told ESPN that he was “really disappointed” in the Patriots 2023 season.“I had hoped things would be a lot better,” the owner said after the team concluded a 4-13 campaign, the worst record in the AFC Conference.

As Belichick now wades into new territory as a college head coach, he has been making headlines for his off-the-field behavior, notably his relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson.

In an April appearance to promote his new book on CBS Sunday Morning — in which Hudson interrupted CBS reporter Tony Dokoupil’s line of questioning about how they met — Belichick was terse about the impact Kraft had on crafting his book.

When Dokoupil noted that Kraft did not make the acknowledgments section of the book, Belichick paused for a few seconds and then said, “Correct.”

Belichick then disagreed when Dokoupil said that Kraft had claimed he fired him.

“It was a mutual decision for us to part ways,” Belichick said.

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