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If you can’t beat ’em, hire ’em.
That’s what Peyton Manning appears to be trying to do, as the legendary quarterback is pursuing former Patriots coach Bill Belichick to join Omaha Productions, Manning’s entertainment company, according to The Athletic.
Belichick had the better of Manning as the two played their parts in one of the NFL’s all-time rivalries, with his Patriots going 13–6 against Manning. The glowering former coach has reportedly been in the mix for various television gigs since parting ways with the Patriots after 24 years and six Super Bowl titles.
Belichick would join an all-star lineup of partnerships, as Omaha Productions already has deals with former WNBA star Sue Bird, MLB icon David Ortiz, and, of course, Peyton’s younger brother, Eli. Omaha Productions has produced the ManningCast for ESPN’s Monday Night Football, featuring Eli and Peyton calling the game from their couches, and the video series Places, where Ortiz and other stars make various trips around the country. The company was also involved in the Netflix series Quarterback, which premiered last summer and has been renewed for a second season.
According to The Athletic, should Manning land Belichick, the idea of him doing a coaches version of the ManningCast alongside former Alabama coach Nick Saban would be explored. Saban recently joined ESPN as an analyst after a historic run at Alabama where he won six of his seven national titles. The two coaches aren’t strangers to each other, as Saban served as Belichick’s defensive coordinator for the Browns in the mid-’90s.
The report says Belichick has met with CBS and NBC and isn’t interested in doing a Sunday sitdown show. Pat McAfee, who is famous for paying guests top dollar for appearance fees, has declared he will attempt to recruit Belichick to his radio show, pitting him against Manning, his former Colts teammate.
But networks are also afraid to hire Belichick out of hesitancy that he will return to coaching at the next opportunity, similar to NBA’s Doc Rivers. Belichick is just 14 wins behind Don Shula’s NFL-record 347 regular-season and postseason victories, and Belichick could pass him with another two seasons on the sidelines.
Lurking in the background of all of this is Fox, which has Tom Brady joining its top broadcast booth next season in the first year of a 10-year, $375 million contract and would presumably enjoy strengthening its team while helping Brady deal out yet another defeat to Manning.
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