We'd like to extend a warm ATL birthday to Patriots coach Bill Belichick, who turns 60 years young on Monday. He'll celebrate by kicking off the start of the team's offseason workout program.
ESPNBoston.com pointed out the milestone, which gets us thinking: How much longer will Belichick coach?
Belichick said on last year's NFL Films production "A Football Life" that he didn't plan to coach until he's 70, like former Bills coach Marv Levy. Tom Coughlin is 65 years old and just won a title. Only four current NFL coaches are older than Belichick: Coughlin, Bills coach Chan Gailey (60), Seahawks coach Pete Carroll (60), and Chiefs coach Romeo Crennel (64).
We always figured Belichick will stay until the end of the Tom Brady era at the very least. Belichick knows the value of a top-tier quarterback and how lucky he is to have finally found one. Brady figures to play at least 2-3 more years, although it gets tricky assuming anything with quarterbacks once they are 35 years old.
Belichick's energy never seems to wane. He says each season is entirely different, and genuinely approaches it that way.
That approach will be tougher than ever this season after what could have been the toughest loss of his NFL career in February. As coaches get older, they often say that the rough losses hurt more than ever and the great wins don't make the same impact. This latest loss to the Giants left a mark.
Belichick's Patriots contend every year, so rough losses are inevitable. We figure he'll be around for at least a few more years, but after Brady retires all bets are off.
In the meantime, the two men will search for that elusive fourth Super Bowl title together, a victory that could lay stake to their claim as the greatest coach-quarterback combo of all time.
