The Odds Have Shifted Drastically in Favor Belichick Getting the Giants Job

Jerry Wachter. Getty Images.

I'll confess, I didn't think much of the idea that Bill Belichick might be a serious candidate to take the vacant Giants head coaching job.

I never bought into this hypothesis. Never understood the appeal. What irresistible attraction that job had for him over any other. Was it nostalgia, because he was the DC there for a few years? Why the Giants and not his other past jobs like the Colts, Lions, Broncos, Jets or Browns? And since when was it assumed this cold, calculating, diabolical genius was really a sentimental fool, pining for the old days? 

And I wondered if the Giants would even be interested, after having two straight saplings off the Belichick coaching tree wither and die in just the past four years. 

Well somebody must think both sides have a lot of interest in one another. Because his odds have dropped dramatically:

And if you look at the candidates around him, Jon Gruden seems to be doing very well for himself without the NFL. 

And maybe you could make a case for Mike McCarthy. But a betting favorite over Belichick? With his 11-11 career playoff record, despite being handed a silver platter of All Pro/Hall of Fame talent like Brett Favre, Aaron Rodgers, Dak Prescott, Davante Adams, Micah Parsons and CeeDee Lamb his whole career? Some coaches have what it takes to win games in January and February and some don't. McCarthy did, but that was 15 years ago, when half the players on next year's Giants roster were too young to stay up and watch him win that one ring of his. 

What I don't know about setting odds like this could fill the Library of Congress. (Wager responsibly. 1-800-GAMBLER.) But it won't surprise me at all if the odds that were +1600 a couple of days ago drop until Belichick is the favorite. He's certainly got the resume. 

Despite him putting up the defector shields and refusing to talk about it:

… his buyout with UNC that was $10 million is now a paltry one million. 

And I may have understated the depth of his emotional connection to the job:

Whether the Giants or their fans want to try again, given how the last half decade-plus have gone, remains to be seen. I say again that I'm rooting for this to happen. Not because I don't go to bed every night and wake up every day wishing that this hideous organization lose every game in perpetuity. But because it would be good for Belichick, who deserves a break. And because it would be the biggest story of 2026. Make it so.