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Bill Belichick’s ‘Dictator Narrative’ Revealed as NFL Insider Explains Why Atlanta Falcons Rejected 6X Super Bowl Winning Coach

Published 03/05/2024, 12:02 PM EST

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The most successful head coach in the history of the league was all but set to join the Atlanta Falcons. However, many were shocked when Bill Belichick did not get the job. Now an NFL insider revealed that the reason could be his approach towards the entire unit.

Belichick was let go by the New England Patriots at the end of the last season. The tactical genius served as the top man at the Patriots for 23 years, winning six Super Bowl titles. However, the decision-makers at the Falcons were wary of the rumors of his nature!

Bill Belichick loses out on the Falcons’ job

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The 71-year-old Belichick had met the Falcons squad twice and even went on to meet the owner Arthur Blank on his yacht. And as the job looked all but his, according to NFL insider Michael Lombardi, it is the decision makers within the Falcons staff that ultimately cost Belichick the job.

“Terry Fontenot and Rick McKay convinced Arthur Blank, this is what we should do”, said Lombardi. The insider implicated GM Fontenot and CEO McKay for convincing Blank to not hire the legendary head coach. “See, there’s this narrative that Bill’s some kind of dictator from some country. That wants to come in and just take over the world,” said Lombardi about the reasons for not trusting Belichick.

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However, Lombardi did give reasons to justify Belichick behavior, “So, there are certain things that a coach wants to have, right. Like for eg. Atlanta had this no workout bonuses in their contract in terms of, for offseason programme. Well that is really important to a coach, he wants incentives to build a team, that helps your culture, it also helps the drive and unifies the team. Helps player development too. If you don’t have that in your contracts, guys don’t have to show up, there is no incentive for them to come in here. Is that being power hungry?

Well, whether Belichick is power hungry or not, the narrative has been building up for years now. Even though Belichick would want it to go away, so far it is sticking to the former Pats’ HC.

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The dictator at the Patriots’ station

“They are completely scared of Bill. It’s a dictatorship in New England”, said the former Cincinnati Bengals’ wide receiver T. J. Houshmandzadeh in 2018. Each coach has a distinctive style of managing their squad and ensuring discipline. Many would agree that Belichick lies on the disciplinarian side of things.

His former players, on numerous occasions, have tried to shed away the narrative of him being a dictator. Calling the 3X Coach of the Year “ultimate player’s coach”. But, as the game keeps evolving, there are fewer disciplinarian coaches left in the game. And Belichick’s past might haunt him further!

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Do you agree with the Bill Belichick dictator narrative? Let us know your take in the comments.

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Written by:

Utkarsh Tiwari

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Utkarsh Tiwari is an NFL writer at EssentiallySports. As a coalesce of a law graduate and football enthusiast, he takes pride in reporting Sunday live games along with post-match analysis and legal accuracy. This enthusiasm has made Utkarsh our ‘go-to guy’ for throwback pieces and listicles when it comes to any game, especially of the Kansas City Chiefs.
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Edited by:

Garima Yadav