On ESPN this morning, Adam Schefter said it’s looking like former Patriots HC Bill Belichick is no longer the favorite to land the Falcons head coaching vacancy.
Belichick hasn’t interviewed with any other teams and Schefter says at this point there’s a “real possibility” he is frozen out of a job this hiring cycle.
Schefter notes since the Falcons completed their second in-person interview with Belichick last weekend, they’ve scheduled a significant number of second interviews, which seems to indicate they got cold feet about hiring Belichick.
He adds it’s always possible Atlanta could circle back if no one else wows them but the Falcons have told Schefter and other reporters the search is “wide open.”
Atlanta interviewed former Titans HC Mike Vrabel on Wednesday and has a second interview scheduled with Texans OC Bobby Slowik today.
Slowik is an interesting name to monitor, as he’s drawn a lot of interest from teams this cycle. James Palmer and some others have noted that Slowik impressed the Falcons in his first interview.
Second-round interviews are usually considered finalists but it’s possible with this many candidates the Falcons could do a third round. The team had completed or scheduled second-round interviews with at least 10 candidates:
- Former Patriots HC Bill Belichick
- Panthers DC Ejiro Evero
- Rams DC Raheem Morris
- Ravens DL coach Anthony Weaver
- Ravens DC Mike Macdonald
- Texans OC Bobby Slowik
- Lions OC Ben Johnson
- Lions DC Aaron Glenn
- Bengals OC Brian Callahan (hired by Titans)
- Michigan HC Jim Harbaugh (hired by Chargers)
Belichick, 71, got his start coaching in the NFL in 1975 with the then-Baltimore Colts. He had assistant jobs with the Lions and Broncos before landing with the Giants, where he eventually rose to defensive coordinator under legendary HC Bill Parcells.
The Browns hired Belichick as head coach in 1991 and he was in the post for five years before being fired. He rejoined Parcells as an assistant with the Patriots and left to go with him to the Jets the following year.
He was slated to replace Parcells as head coach of the Jets in 2000 but infamously resigned and was hired by the Patriots, who had to give up a first-round pick to the Jets as compensation. Belichick has been in New England ever since, winning six Super Bowls in 24 years.
For his career, Belichick has a record of 302-163 over 29 seasons (.655 W/L percentage) and has eight Super Bowl rings, six of them as head coach of the Patriots. He’s a three-time winner of the AP Coach of the Year award.
Slowik, 36, began his coaching career as a defensive assistant with the Commanders from 2011-2013. From there, he was later hired as the 49ers’ defensive quality control coach from 2017-2018.
San Francisco named him an offensive assistant for 2019-2020 and promoted him to offensive pass game specialist in 2021. From there, the Texans hired Slowik as their offensive coordinator for the 2023 season.
In 2023, the Texans’ offense ranked No. 12 in total yards, No. 13 in total points, No. 22 in rushing yards and No. 7 in passing yards.
We’ll have more on the Falcons coaching search as the news is available.
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