Bill Belichick as a role model for seniors

Bill Belichick, the 72-year-old former longtime head coach of the New England Patriots and winner of a record six Super Bowls as head coach, just accepted a role as head coach of the football program of the University of North Carolina. Everyone seems to think that, by choosing a college role instead of another NFL head coaching gig, he’s had to “settle” for the only available opening.

From Ben Volin, football wizard at the Boston Globe:

But for many of us, the news of Belichick heading to UNC lands mostly with sadness. Belichick going to UNC means the book is closed on his NFL career. He lasted 49 years in the league, morphing from a 23-year-old grunt for the Colts to a six-time Super Bowl-winning coach with the Patriots. But he won’t get to Year 50.

It’s sad that Belichick won’t be chasing down Don Shula’s all-time NFL wins record, or a seventh Super Bowl ring, with another franchise.

It would’ve been fun to see how Belichick could do with another franchise, another owner, and another quarterback, much as it was fun to track Tom Brady in Tampa Bay for his final three seasons. It would have been fun to see Belichick get his revenge game against the [Patriots ownership].

And Belichick, surely, would have liked to erase the “never won without Brady” part of his résumé.

Shula’s record for all-time wins — Belichick (333) is 14 behind Shula (347) — is another piece of business that will go unfinished for Belichick. Shula ripped Belichick for years, calling him “Belicheat.” Now Belichick won’t get a chance at revenge.

Other media reports are similar. They list the NFL vacancies and explain why none of them would hire Belichick, despite his historic 301-165 (.647 winning percentage) record as a head coach in NFL games. Unlike other head coaches, Belichick tends to insist on having control of drafting, trading for, and paying players, usually the responsibility of the general manager the head coach’s boss, and that’s not a system that works for most NFL teams.

So the story is “Bill Belichick is a spoiled egotist who insists on total control and has pissed off half of the league, so his only choice is to coach in a college program.”

Another perspective

Who created the narrative that Bill Belichick, who at 72 years old has accomplished nearly everything a head coach can do, has to beat Don Shula’s record for wins and prove he can win with a quarterback other than Tom Brady?

Not Belichick, who is famously blunt and opaque with the media.

That’s a media narrative, because the media loves to inflame rivalries and talk about the pursuit of records and Super Bowls.

Here’s another way to look at it.

Here is a coach who has a long record of success.

At this point in his career, he is uninterested in the stress of dealing with NFL owners and executives, fighting with the league, handling prima donna players, and scheming out modern offenses and defense.

And he certainly doesn’t need to take a job for the money.

On the other hand, he is up for a new challenge and would certainly prefer that challenge to include coaching football, which is what he knows best.

So he is open to coaching (and yes, taking full control of) a college program where he can basically build from zero, design what schemes he wants, determine which players to recruit, and help mentor them and watch them grow into great NFL players — or just solid and formidable human beings.

All of us seniors face decisions like this

Lots of us in our 60s and 70s aren’t yet done making contributions, but have no interest in continuing in the corporate rat race.

So we become freelancers (as I did), volunteers, fractional executives, and, often, college professors. It’s a way to give back without just doing the same old job and facing the same old challenges we got bored of years ago.

How is what Bill Belichick is doing any different from lots of my friends who have left accomplished careers and became college professors?

I wish Bill a great career at UNC. Those students are about to have an experience that few football players ever have the chance to approach.

And if you’re reading this and you’re in your 50s or older, do what Bill did.

Figure out what you like doing.

See how you can keep doing it and face new challenges that aren’t the same as what you used to do.

Find ways to tap your experience to give back to the next generation of smart people entering the workforce.

Ignore other people’s expectations about what you are “supposed” to be doing, because it’s your life, not theirs.

And wake up every day thinking, “I love what I do.”