Reason Why Falcons Didn’t Hire Bill Belichick Has Been Revealed

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The Atlanta Falcons stunned the football world when they announced they were passing on Bill Belichick for their head coaching vacancy even though he had been the frontrunner for the job for several weeks.

On Thursday night, the Falcons announced they were hiring Raheem Morris instead of Belichick to become their next head coach.

According to ESPN NFL insider Dan Graziano, the Falcons decided against hiring Belichick because they didn’t want to give him too much power within the organization.

“Multiple sources have said for weeks that Blank went into this process wanting Belichick, and I think the league and the industry expected that to work out. But there were hurdles that couldn’t be cleared. The organizational structure in Atlanta involves Blank and CEO Rich McKay, and a lot of the discussions with Belichick centered on the idea of what McKay’s role would be if Belichick came to coach the team — and how much power and control the various parties would have in the end.”

Graziano points out that the Falcons felt Belichick was a “short-term play” due to his age.

Via ESPN

“Belichick — who is 15 wins shy of breaking Don Shula’s all-time record for most by a head coach — was seen as a short-term play, so there were some in the Falcons’ building who were concerned about overhauling things extensively only to potentially have to do so again in a few years.”

It appears that Belichick will likely have to sit out a year if he wants to get back into the coaching game.