Though most of the Super Bowl prop bets this year will revolve around the players on the field, at least one of the head coaches is getting some love, too.
The talk of Bill Belichick retiring is heating up, and though BetDSI.eu doesn’t expect Belichick to announce his retirement at Super Bowl LII, there’s a chance that this could be the end of the line for arguably the greatest coach in NFL history.
Bill Belichick Announces Retirement After Super Bowl 52?
Yes +2500
No -5000
Opening Odds Courtesy of BetDSI.eu. Odds subject to change. Click Here for up-to-date odds.
Why Bill Belichick Announces Retirement at Super Bowl 52
The Patriots’ power struggle is real, and at some point, someone is going to write a book on this topic that will be a New York Times Bestseller.
It might be time for Belichick to just say, “Screw it,” and move on with life. For all of the chatter about Tom Brady potentially retiring after the Super Bowl due to his age, let’s remember that Belichick is 65 years old now. He’s coaching in his record-eighth Super Bowl this year and already stands alone with his five titles.
Just as Nick Saban has little left to prove at Alabama, Belichick has little left to prove with the Patriots. We don’t know much about Belichick’s contract with New England, but we can surmise that he is the highest paid coach in the NFL. It’s safe to say that money shouldn’t be an issue at this point in Belichick’s career.
Why Bill Belichick Won’t Announce Retirement at Super Bowl 52
The fact of the matter is that Belichick’s ego is going to keep him in football longer than Tom Brady. Belichick will be remembered most for the five Super Bowls (and counting) he has with the Patriots, but there will always be that lingering question in the back of pundits’ minds as to whether Tom Brady made Bill Belichick or Bill Belichick made Tom Brady. It’s the longstanding “chicken or the egg” conundrum, and it’s one that Belichick could only possibly settle by winning without Brady.
In 2008 when Brady tore his ACL, the Patriots didn’t even make the playoffs. It was the only time in this run of dominance that the Pats didn’t play into January. Of course, that wasn’t all Belichick’s fault; New England won 11 games that year with Matt Cassel under center and still missed the postseason. That type of bad luck had never been seen before in NFL history and probably won’t happen too many times in the future.
It shouldn’t be all that surprising to find out that Belichick had no desire to trade Jimmy Garoppolo. The mastermind envisioned Jimmy G taking over for Brady at the first sign that TB12 wasn’t a Super Bowl-caliber quarterback any longer. Belichick has been ruthless in the past, cutting or trading veterans perhaps a year or two before the end of their usefulness, and we have no reason to believe that he wouldn’t try to do the same with Brady if given the chance.
Now it’s clear that he won’t be given that chance any time in the immediate future.
Between the aura surrounding Brady and the fact that Belichick was a horrible disaster with the Browns in his first head coaching gig, he’ll surely want to prove that he can win one without Brady to remove any possible doubt that he’s the greatest coach of all time.
Furthermore, it just isn’t Belichick’s M.O. to make a big announcement on a big stage. This is a man who effectively coined #NoDaysOff, and has the personality of that pet rock you had in the 1960s. He loves the media about as much as Donald Trump, and the less time he can spend on the podium, the better for him. We’re not sure he has the capability of shedding tears or making emotional speeches, let alone making said announcement on such a grand scale. When Belichick decides that it’s time to go, he’ll probably have a quiet announcement made in the depths of the offseason when significantly fewer people are paying attention.
