Jan. 4, 2000 SportsLine wire reports

FOXBORO, Mass. -- Just because Bill Belichick decided Tuesday that he doesn't want to coach the New York Jets doesn't mean that he goes back to the top of the Patriots' list as they look for a successor to Pete Carroll.

	Related Links: Browne: Frustrated Belichick leaves Jets with uncertain future Belichick resigns Jets post Pasquarelli: Attorneys, others, scrambling to decipher Belichick's Jets contract Kubiak withdraws from running for Pats job Patriots exodus looms after season unravels 2000 NFL opponents Forum: Should Belichick be allowed to coach elsewhere?
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Jets president Steve Gutman said that Belichick's contract, which automatically elevated him to head coach upon Bill Parcells' departure, would not allow him to coach elsewhere.

"There is no question that he is obligated to work for the New York Jets as the head coach or not anywhere else in the National Football League," Gutman said after following Belichick to the podium in Hempstead, N.Y.

While saying that he sympathized with Belichick's difficult decision, Gutman said he would not let the Jets' interests "be compromised by the fact that Bill was in the turmoil that he was in."

After Belichick's resignation, the NFL said the Jets retained contractual rights to the coach.

"Based upon Belichick's contract on file with this office, we have advised our clubs that no club other than the Jets is permitted to speak with Belichick or his representatives about any NFL employment unless further notified by this office."

The Patriots, who had been denied permission to talk to Belichick during the brief period in which he was the Jets head coach, declined comment on his resignation. Three years ago, after the NFL office reviewed Parcells' contract, the Jets were forced to give the Patriots four high draft choices for the right to hire him.

Belichick was the Jets defensive coordinator and the contractually designated head coaching heir when Parcells resigned on Sunday. But Belichick said Tuesday that he didn't want the job because of the uncertainty involved in the Jets unsteady ownership.

Asked whether he would pursue a job with the Patriots or anyone else, Belichick said, "I really haven't thought about it.

"I haven't thought about the future. I've thought about the situation that I'm in," he said. "Long term for me is I've got to pick up my kids at four o'clock. ... What happens next week, next year or two seasons from now, I haven't even thought about it."

Also Tuesday, Denver offensive coordinator Gary Kubiak said he was not interested in taking over the Patriots.

"I have talked with the Patriots via telephone, and we had a great conversation. However, I'm not going to be going to New England for an interview," he said in a statement. "I'm very flattered and I appreciate being contacted and considered for the position. For a number of personal reasons, I will not be a candidate for that job."

Also mentioned as possible successors to Carroll are St. Louis offensive coordinator Mike Martz, Atlanta offensive line coach Art Shell and University of Miami head coach Butch Davis.

Broadway Joe