Imagine the size of the napkin that Bill Belichick would have needed to pen an apology letter to the Jets.
Before he was hired last week as head coach at the University of North Carolina, Belichick reached out to the Jets to express interest in their head coach vacancy, a source told The Post’s Brian Costello.
It furthered a story Saturday that there had been contact between Belichick and the Jets but no formal interview, meeting or conversation took place, as first reported by The Athletic.
A marriage between the Hatfields and the McCoys in the 1800s would have seemed more likely than a Belichick-Jets reunion up until then.
Ever since Jan. 4, 2000 — the day that he was supposed to be introduced as the Jets head coach — Belichick has made it a mission to torment and ridicule the Jets.
That day infamously ended with Belichick penning a quick resignation letter — “I resign as HC of the NYJ” — on a napkin and turning his press conference into a circus because his old agreement to succeed Bill Parcells had been with the late previous owner Leon Hess and not the incoming Woody Johnson.
The Jets traded Belichick to the Patriots — his desired destination — and thus was born one of the most lopsided rivalries in sports history.
That Belichick was even considering working for Johnson and the Jets again all these years later speaks to what was suspected when he was stunningly hired at UNC: Interest in the six-time Super Bowl winning head coach in NFL circles was between lukewarm and nonexistent.
When the Jets first fired Robert Saleh and promoted defensive coordinator Jeff Ulbrich on an interim basis in October, Belichick criticized Johnson during a spot on ESPN’s “ManningCast.”
“That’s kind of what it’s been like with the Jets,” Belichick said. “Barely won over 30 percent (of games) in the last 10 years. The owner, being the owner. Just ready, fire, aim.”
Only a few weeks later, Belichick was calling the Jets to gauge their interest in his services.
And the Jets said no.
