Former NFL punter turned ESPN host Pat McAfee apparently broke his "agreement" with recurring guest Bill Belichick after the six-time Super Bowl champion was asked a question about his coaching future by McAfee's colleague and former Indianapolis Colts teammate Darius Butler.
“Pat, alright, so, you and I had this agreement that this question wouldn’t be asked of me when I came on the Pat McAfee Show,” Belichick said while laughing. “You had [Darius Butler] toss it out there and I know you’re a man of your word …. So I’m going to have to go back into my press conference mode and say, we’re just trying to focus on the next day. I’m just trying to focus on doing a good job on the Pat McAfee Show.”
McAfee brought up that ESPN NFL insider Adam Schefter had previously mentioned Belichick's name while discussing potential head coaching openings earlier in the show, to which Belchick jokingly responded, "so ask Adam then." Schefter claimed that teams could get a head start on discussing potential interest with Belichick, former Tennessee Titans, head coach Mike Vrabel and recently retired former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll.
“What’s going to be interesting to me here is with so many good coaches on the sideline, Bill Belichick, Mike Vrabel, some experienced guys. Are there going to be teams that speed up the look around Thanksgiving to get a jump on talking to some of these guys?” Schefter said during an earlier appearance on the Pat McAfee Show. “You can talk to Belichick today … you can talk to Pete Carroll today.”
Two teams -- the New Orleans Saints and New York Jets -- have already fired their head coaches and will likely have vacancies next offseason. Schefter also mentioned that Chicago Bears head coach Matt Eberflus could be on the hot seat after the team's disappointing struggles.
Belichick, who interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons' vacancy after being fired by the New England Patriots earlier this year, is the third-winningest coach in NFL history and one of seven NFL head coaches to have spent more than 20 years with one franchise following George Halas (40) of the Chicago Bears, Curly Lambeau (29) of the Green Bay Packers, Tom Landry (29) of the Dallas Cowboys, Don Shula (26) of the Miami Dolphins, Steven Owen (24) of the New York Giants and Chuck Noll of the Pittsburgh Steelers, all of whom have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.