Bill Belichick addresses his future, says he remains "heavily invested" in Patriots

FOXBORO -- Bill Belichick's future remains up in the air as the Patriots head coach waits to meet with team owner Robert Kraft. But Belichick was much more open about his future during a Monday morning video conference than he was Sunday afternoon following the team's 17-3 loss to the New York Jets.

Belichick declined to say when he'd be meeting with Kraft on Monday, adding that it could be a series of meetings with the Patriots owner. But he made it clear that he wants to remain in New England to fix the team.

"I'm under contract and I'm going to do what I always do: Come in every day and work as hard as I can to help the team in any way that I can. That's what I'm going to continue to do," Belichick said.

"That's what I've always done and what I've done throughout my career," added Belichick. "I learned that lesson from my dad growing up. You work for the team that you're working for and do the best you can for it, until somebody tells you different. So, that's not going to change."

The Patriots finished the 2023 at 4-13, the worst record of Belichick's coaching career. The Patriots have now missed the playoffs for two straight years and in three of the last four seasons. The Patriots had missed the playoffs just three times in the prior 20 seasons under Belichick.

While he was much more talkative, Belichick did not want to get into any hypotheticals on Monday. He wouldn't say if he'd be open to coaching anywhere else. But he did give an answer when asked if he'd be surprised if Kraft decided to move on from him after 24 seasons.

"I'm going to focus on what I am going to control and focus on. That's my work ethic and what I can do to help the New England Patriots organization, which I'm heavily invested in," Belichick said.

Belichick has been in full control of the New England roster during his tenure, but he did sound open to potentially relinquishing some of that power.

"Look, I'm for whatever, collectively, we decide as an organization is the best thing to help our football team," said Belichick. "And, I have multiple roles in that, and I rely on a lot of people to help me in those responsibilities. If somebody's got to have the final say, I rely on a lot of other people to help. And, however that process is, I'm only part of it."

Belichick made it clear that he remains fully committed to the Patriots and doing everything he can to get the team back to contention. Now we'll wait to see if Robert Kraft is as fully committed to his longtime head coach.