When you think of the phrase “football purist,” one of the first people who likely comes to mind is Bill Belichick. The winner of eight Super Bowls—six as a head coach and two as an assistant—has spent his entire adult life within the game, spanning four years as a college football player and then the last 39 as an NFL coach in some capacity. Belichick even once infamously spent nine minutes during a press conference discussing the role and history of long snappers alone, so he may be the last person one would associate with something as frivolous and trivial as fantasy football.
However, it was announced on Wednesday that Belichick—who is without an NFL job for the first time since 1974—has joined fantasy sports company Underdog Fantasy for this upcoming season, hosting a weekly show that offers team-by-team and game-by-game breakdowns.
“I partnered with Underdog because Underdog is a sports company run by sports people,” Belichick said. “They want sports to connect to the fans, and that’s what I want to do. I want to find a connection to the fans, where I give the fans what they’ve asked me for in terms of content, behind-the-scenes information, decision-making that goes on within the organization, and a breakdown of schematics and personnel within the game.”
While Belichick is partnering with a fantasy football company, that doesn’t necessarily mean he’ll be fantasy players’ go-to when it comes to who to select in fantasy drafts or who they should start versus sit on a weekly basis. Belichick makes it clear that he’ll be devoting his time to real football, as opposed to imparting any fantasy football advice.
“[I will] bring all of this real football conversations and decisions to the fans—Underdog wants to do that. I want to do that. So, it was a great fit,” Belichick stated. “I’m really looking forward to the opportunity to work with Underdog and their producers, and they’ve given me the opportunity to give the fans what they want, and that’s my goal.”
The role of real football analyst, as opposed to fantasy football analyst, is right in Belichick’s wheelhouse, and it’s a role he’s become familiar with in recent years. Despite never being a favorite of the press due to his terse press conferences, Belichick has dipped his toes into several media ventures, and he’s done so to wide acclaim.
Then, after he and the New England Patriots mutually moved on from each other in January, Belichick appeared on an NFL Draft special on the “Pat McAfee Show” just months later. He again impressed, and that’s leading to the coach signing on to do weekly appearances on the “Pat McAfee Show” this fall during the NFL season.
As if that weren’t enough, Belichick also signed on to be an analyst on “Inside the NFL,” produced by NFL Films, which has won five Sports Emmys. The 2024 show will pit Belichick with a couple of his former players, including Chad Johnson and Chris Long, as fellow analysts.
As for being back on the sidelines again, that’s still apparently the goal for the 72-year-old, and he certainly has an incentive to coach in the NFL again. While he owns the all-time coaching records for most Super Bowl wins (six) and most postseason wins (31), he’s still chasing a couple of other coaching greats in other areas. He’s one championship behind former Cleveland Browns coach Paul Brown, who won seven NFL championships before the Super Bowl came around, for the most in league history.
Additionally, Belichick currently ranks third on the NFL’s all-time wins list, needing 27 more victories to surpass Don Shula for the most regular season wins in league history. Belichick also needs 15 wins to surpass Shula for the most regular season plus postseason victories in NFL history.
