Bill Belichick understands John Harbaugh’s situation. He lived it.

After failing to generate multiple playoff appearances in the post-Tom Brady era with the Patriots, Belichick was fired from a postion he held for over two decades. So after Harbaugh missed the playoffs in 2025 and eventually fell to the same fate as Belichick on Jan. 6, the pair shared a suddenly glaring similarity: they were both fired after serving as a head coach for at least 15 years with one franchise. Their departures sent shockwaves through the NFL, marking official ends to Belichick and Harbaugh’s legendary stints in New England and Baltimore, respectively.

So who else would be better equipped to discuss the seismic aftermath of such a decision than Belichick?

“It’s always a tough situation,” Belichick said on Jim Gray’s Let’s Go podcast via SiriusXM NFL. “Steve Bisciotti is a great owner. John Harbaugh is a great coach. They had a great run together. Sometimes it’s just time.

“I’m sure they’ll both move on, and they’ll both move on to a lot of success, but sometimes those just have to be made. I don’t know enough on the inside to know what really did or didn’t happen. It’s not my place to comment on that. It’s a very competitive league. There’s a lot of pressure to perform well. Ultimately, the owners have to make the decisions as to what they feel is best for their franchise, and everyone else — players, coaches, scouts, general managers and so forth — we all have to live with those decisions. That’s what you sign up for when you enter into this profession.”

Ahead of what became a 16-3 win for the Patriots in their Wild Card game against the Chargers, Belichick was asked by Gray for his perspective about his former team’s chances in its first playoff game since his departure. The conversation led to an awkward response from Belichick, who did not mention the Patriots by name in his conversation. It was the only franchise Belichick did not mention during a segment previewing the NFL’s Wild Card slate.

Tuesday he provided a more straightforward response.

Even with a clearer answer, the only member of the Patriots organization Belichick named was offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels — a member of the Belichick’s previous coaching staffs. No mention of Mike Vrabel, Drake Maye or any other defensive coaches.

“It’s kind of what we talked about last weekend when we previewed the game,” Belichick said. “I thought the Chargers would have trouble if they had to play from behind. They were never really able to get ahead and to have control of the game. Once it became a two-score game and the passes increased, the pressure increased, and that just didn’t bode well for the Chargers. They had a great opportunity early in the game, didn’t hit it on fourth down, then got the ball on the turnover inside the 10-yard line and couldn’t capitalize on that. Those were kind of their chances to get some points and kind of flip the script and force the Patriots to play from behind. But they were never able to do that.

“Once the Patriots played from ahead, and I’d say in the second half, Josh really got the offense on track, they were more consistent moving the ball. Then, defensively, the Patriots played from ahead and played well with their pass rush, put a lot of pressure on (quarterback Justin) Herbert, which is an issue the Chargers have had since their rash of injuries this season.”