There is a reason why Bill Belichick is going to go on the Pat McAfee Show this week during the NFL Draft.

He wants to get out in front of the public and humanize himself, make himself look like a guy who can get along with people as opposed to pushing them away.

Belichick will smile — a lot. He will joke around — a lot. And he will answer any questions, discuss any issues and just be kind of a friendly, personable and likeable guy throughout the show. He wants to be someone you would welcome into your home to discuss the Cover 2 defense while sipping on a spot of tea.

Why? Because he needs to get hired by somebody to be an NFL head coach again.

This isn’t hard to figure out, folks. With 333 career wins, the former Browns head coach is in second place on the NFL all-time list,  just 14 behind Don Shula, the Painesville Harvey High School and John Carroll University product who began his foray into pro football as a safety with the Browns in 1951 and ‘52.

He absolutely, positively does not want to finish second. And who can blame him? Nobody wants to be second, especially when you’re so close to being first, and even more so when your name is Bill Belichick and you are ultra-competitive. What is figuring into the equation as well — tremendously so, to be sure — is the fact that Belichick despised the late Shula after the longtime coach of the Baltimore Colts and Miami Dolphins referred to him as “The Cheater” for his part in a few controversial steps along the way, including “Deflategate” and “Videogate.”

That’s all water under the bridge to most everybody now, except Belichick. He wants to go out on top, passing Shula and getting the moniker as the winningest coach in the history of the game . 

Belichick can’t do it alone, though. As mentioned, he needs to get hired to do that, and to get hired, he must present himself as being a guy who will work with everybody else in the organization as opposed to treating it as, “It’s my way or the highway.”

We’ll see how it plays out. Brlichick isn’t getting any younger. He just turned 72 years old. That’s not too old, but it will soon be pushing the envelope. Indeed, the clock is ticking.

How will it all play out? Who knows?

But it is incredibly interesting, because the guy who didn’t need anybody to carve a path for him when he was racking up all those wins, now needs some owner to lend a generous hand.

Steve King