Bill Belichick already confirmed he'll be back for his 23rd season as New England Patriots head coach. But as he approaches his 70th birthday, it's time to start thinking about who will be his successor in Foxboro.
Josh McDaniels had been considered the favorite to eventually replace Belichick. That seems less likely now that the longtime Patriots offensive coordinator has been hired as head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders. So, what's New England's succession plan? Does the organization even have one in place?
Curran: Losing McDaniels another brain drain for Belichick's staff
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Our Tom E. Curran shared his insight on the situation.
"When Bill Parcells was the head coach here, there was great trepidation on the part of the Krafts that he'd just up and say, 'You know what? I'm actually done. Don't feel like doing it.' They don't have that same feeling with Bill Belichick," Curran said Monday on Early Edition. "He's built a dynasty. He regards this as probably an heirloom that he wants to have burnished and passed on appropriately.
"So, while they don't have a succession plan in place, they have a working idea as to what they might do. But I think Bill would also, and I'm guessing here, I think the presumption is Bill would certainly give plenty of notice to them before he was to walk off into the sunset.
"And who it might be? I don't think necessarily Bill is saying, 'It's gotta be this guy.' Or 'It has to be one of my sons.' I don't even think Stephen Belichick really would be overly turned on by the idea of being a head coach in the NFL. Just not what I've gathered from him."
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Watch the full Early Edition segment with Curran below: