Julian Edelman is not afraid to address the speculation Bill Belichick will return to coaching next season.
Edelman – who is partnered with Tostitos Salsa Cereal this season– played for Belichick with the New England Patriots from 2009-20. Edelman watches Belichick on “Inside the NFL,” and he sees the plan unfolding in real time.
"I haven't really talked to Coach because he is so busy being a media butterfly right now, but there's no shot he's not going back to coach," Edelman told Sporting News.
Edelman gave his thoughts on Belichick, Tom Brady and the new ad campaign in an interview with Sporting News.
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Julian Edelman says Bill Belichick will coach again
Belichick, 72, won six Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots from 2000-23. Edelman was on three of those teams, and he was the MVP of Super Bowl LIII — a 13-3 victory against the Los Angeles Rams.
Why does Edelman believe Belichick will be on a NFL sideline as early as next season?
"This dude loves coaching," Edelman said. "This is just all probably to keep his mind busy and he's getting paid to evaluate and watch all the teams now. You've heard him talk about it. He's always been so fixed on who we're playing that week and evaluating his team — his team and the next-week team. It's been really fun to get his perspective on all the teams, but he's also probably gathering all this knowledge in his head."
Edelman – who shares many of those experiences playing for Belichick on the Games with Names podcast – uses a “Star Wars” analogy to make his point.
"Do you think this guy is sitting here and doing this for fun?" Edelman asks. "No. This guy is Darth Vader. He's taking everything. He's watching it from afar. He's going to self-evaluate himself. He's using this as a learning experience."
Belichick has 302 career victories, which ranks third all time behind Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318). Kansas City coach Andy Reid leads active coaches with 262 victories.
"Bill wants that record," Edelman said. "I don't know for a fact — he's never said it to me and he says speak for yourself, but dammit you know he wants that record."
Dallas has been a popular hypothetical landing spot for Belichick, who interviewed with the Falcons last season. Would it be awkward for Edelman to see Belichick on another sideline?
"Nah, because that is just how this league goes," Edelman said. "This is the NFL. I remember Bill before he left New England when we were in our heyday he goes, 'Every coach has been fired. Every player. That's just how it goes.'"
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Julian Edelman says Tom Brady is 'great' in booth
Edelman spoke to Sporting News before Week 4. He watched teammate Tom Brady as a Fox commentator through the first three weeks of the season.
"I thought he's done great," Edelman said. "You gotta realize he hasn't called any good games. All of these games have been blowouts. The real great content you are going to get from Brady is when the quarterback is down by five points going into the last drive of the game in an important must-win game. Those are the things I want to hear from him.
"I think he's gotten better and better each week," Edelman said. "You can see he's getting comfortable. It's like a rookie quarterback the first time you get out there. Once you start learning the timing of everything."
Does Edelman try to distract Brady by texting during the games?
"Nah, not yet," Edelman said. "Not yet. I'll let his feet get wet first."
Belichick, Brady and Edelman are part of a wave of former Patriots who have filled the media space in recent seasons. Tedy Bruschi and Randy Moss are veterans on “Sunday NFL Countdown.” Rob Gronkowski is featured on “Fox NFL Sunday.” Jason McCourty is on ESPN's day-time programming, and Devin McCourty and Rodney Harrison are on NBC Sports “Football Night in America.” James White is with the Big Ten Network.
You can't turn the channel without seeing a former New England player, which is ironic because the franchise was notorious for keeping information in house under Belichick.
"It's a new part of my life and it's fun to experience and shed light on certain topics,” Edelman said. "We were doing regular stuff just like every other team. Everyone thinks we weren't having any fun. … It's been fun to shed light on the topics and our experience in New England because everyone has this mixed notion that we had no fun and it was terrible. It was just a different type of fun."
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Julian Edelman partnership with Tostitos
Edelman is partnered with Tostitos, who introduced Salsa Cereal this week. Edelman, Brady and Gronkowski will appear in six commercials endorsing the product, which spawned off a viral trend where the chips and salsa are put in a bowl and consumed like cereal.
Edelman was told about the trend on the Tostitos set.
"They said there is this new trend going around of people eating salsa cereal, so I said, 'Let me try this. I'm a chips-and-salsa kind of guy,'" Edelman said. "Thought it was going to be whatever, and it lit my world on fire."
Edelman also said tthe “You can't do that without Tostitos” campaign with Brady and Gronkowski were exciting to produce.
"That's what we do now," Edelman said. "It's been motivating to be around them. You forget — you get into civilian life and you forget the competitive vibes and juices. You see it in various aspects of life, but when you are around Rob Gronkowski and Tom Brady, you're seeing it at the ultimate highest level. It's not just football talk. It's an everything kind of talk."
