Axios Boston

January 12, 2024
Welcome back to Friday.
Today's weather: Sunny and warm during the day, with thunderstorms and high winds possible overnight and into Saturday.
๐ Happy birthday to our Axios Boston member Lee Donohue! And happy early birthday to member Carol Roupenian.
Today's newsletter is 870 words โ a 3-minute read.
1 big thing: Belichick out as Pats coach
Fans thanked Belichick at Sunday's snowy game against the Jets. Photo: Winslow Townson/Getty Images
After 24 seasons and one of the most successful dynasties in football history, Bill Belichick is out as the head coach of the New England Patriots. Now, the once-dominant franchise needs a new coach.
Catch up quick: Patriots owner Robert Kraft publicly announced yesterday that Belichick will not return next season.
- ESPN reports that Belichick and Kraft spent much of the week after the team's season-ending loss to the Jets in meetings about how Belichick could exit the job gracefully.
Why it matters: Over nearly a quarter century, Belichick helmed the Patriots to six Super Bowl titles and turned the Pats into one of the most dominant teams in the NFL.
- A new coach will mean a new era for the team, and for New England fans, as the Patriots rebuild.
What's next: The Pats will search for a new head coach to take over and rebuild the team.
- Former Patriot and current assistant coach Jerod Mayo has been rumored to be in the running for the top job.
- Another former Patriot-turned-coach, Mike Vrabel, is also rumored to be on Kraft's radar after he was fired by the Titans.
Kraft also has to find a new general manager, a position that Belichick held in addition to being head coach.
- Director of Player Personnel Matt Groh could get the internal promotion.
- San Francisco assistant GM Adam Peters could be looking for a new team since his boss just signed a contract extension.
- Other assistant GMs from Chicago and Kansas City are in the mix, as is former Tennessee GM Jon Robinson, who's worked with Vrabel.
One of the first things the new coach and front office team has to look forward to is the April 24 draft.
- It's been a long time since the Pats performed poorly enough to secure a prime early round 1 draft pick. They're picking at No. 3 this year.
- The new boss will surely need the new talent โ maybe at quarterback โ to kick off the 2024 season with a bang.
2. ๐โค๏ธ Memories of the Pats dynasty
Belichick embraces Tom Brady and receiver Julian Edelman after winning Super Bowl 53, his sixth and final title with New England. Photo: Simon Bruty/Anychance/Getty Images
For more than two decades, he stalked the sidelines in rumpled hoodies, grouched at reporters during press conferences โย and was showered in victory Gatorade, when it wasn't Super Bowl confetti.
- Here are some memories of the Belichick era, as we wait to find out what's next:

Visiting the White House after the team's third title, Belichick presents President George W. Bush with one of the coach's iconic sideline hoodies.

The coach in his natural habitat, coaching training camp at Gillette in 2006.

A rare display of exuberance from the usually stoic coach, as the Pats clinched victory in Super Bowl 38 over the Carolina Panthers.

Belichick and QB Tom Brady celebrate their 20-17 victory over the "Greatest Show on Turf" Rams in Super Bowl 36, the first title in Patriots history and the beginning of their dynasty.
3. ๐ Back that Mass. Up: Save the whales
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
๐ The escalator at the Maverick MBTA station has been broken for months, but since the design predates the current T contractor, it's taking forever to get the parts to fix it. Riders are peeved. (CBS Boston)
๐ณ A Bedford-based nonprofit received nearly $10 million from the White House to research technology to help save the North Atlantic right whale. (BostInno)
- MITRE Corp. will research ropeless fishing and detection tools to help vessels spot the whales.
House Speaker Ron Mariano says he doesn't know what to expect from the Healey administration when it comes to funding the ongoing emergency shelter crisis. (SHNS)
- Mariano said that record levels of aid for homeless families is "harder and harder to support" at a time when tax revenue has dropped.
EBay will pay a $3 million fine to resolve charges it faced over its employees sendingย live spiders and cockroaches to the home of a Massachusetts couple that produced an online newsletter its executives disliked. (NBC Boston)
4. ๐ค๏ธ Tracking the T
Illustration: Brendan Lynch/Axios
It wasn't a great week for Orange Line riders, as the subway line saw a 17.6% increase in delays due to speed restrictions over last week, per data analyzed by Transit Matters.
- The Red Line was over 3% better, the latest minor speed improvement over the last few months.
Alerts: The Green Line's downtown tunnels are still undergoing extensive repairs, and trains are suspended through 1/28, with the exception of today through Tuesday.
- Shuttles will be in place between North Station and Babcock Street on the B Line, Kenmore on the C and D Lines and Heath Street on the E Line.
- The Green Line's new Medford extension will close at 8:45pm Jan. 16-18 and Jan. 22-25.
๐๏ธ 5. Weekender
Illustration: Maura Losch/Axios
๐ต Catch the Boston Typewriter Orchestra 1-4pm Saturday at the next CCTV Live Wire Session in Cambridge.
- Here's what they played in their NPR Tiny Desk submission last February.
๐ผ Several Boston-area museums are free to the public for Massachusetts residents on MLK Day with programming reflecting on the civil rights icon's legacy.
- The MFA's open house runs 10am-5pm. Admission's first come, first served.
- The ICA is open 10am-5pm. Free advanced tickets become available at 10am Sunday.
- The Isabella Stewart Gardner museum is open 10am-4pm.
๐ถ The Boston Children's Chorus performs at the 21st annual Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. tribute concert at 4pm Monday at Symphony Hall.
- Tickets: $15+
Deehan wonders what it will be like to have a Pats coach that cares in any way about the press.
Steph is going to try to see Plane Jane at Jacques tonight.
This newsletter was edited by Jeff Weiner and copy edited by James Farrell.
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