I understand why New England Patriots haters loved seeing Bill Belichick fall flat on his face in his opening game loss as head coach at UNC. But why am I rooting for Belichick to fail? I’m a huge Pats fan. Six Super Bowl wins as head coach? One of the winningest coaches in NFL history? He’s a legend in my book. But … but he’s stayed around too long. It happens, as Bill Burr brilliantly suggests in his hilarious interview above with Rich Eisen, pointing out the past-their-prime years of Johnny Unitas and Joe Namath. He might as well have mentioned the past-their-prime years of Chuck Noll, Tom Landry, Don Shula etc. They stayed around too long. It happens. … And then there’s Belichick’s seemingly non-stop silly and petty personal controversies and feuds. His grumpy antics are getting harder to take by the day. He’s tarnishing his image. He’s become a comedic punch line, for heaven’s sake. … Losing might make him leave the coaching stage sooner. That’s why I find myself oddly rooting for him to fail. I want to remember him for his glory days, not his past-his-prime weird losing days.

Update — 9.7.25 — Belichick notched his first UNC victory yesterday. … Meanwhile, from the Globe: “Belichick on Patriots: ‘I’m not welcomed in their facility, so they aren’t welcomed in ours’.”