Bill Belichick out as Patriots coach after 24 seasons
Bill Belichick’s iconic career as head coach of the New England Patriots began with an infamous napkin in 2000 and ended just before he needed a tissue.
Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced Thursday a parting of the ways after 24 seasons that produced six Super Bowl victories, nine AFC championships, 17 AFC East titles, 296 combined regular-season and playoff victories, and the legend of underdog quarterback Tom Brady.
The normally stoic Belichick did not take questions from reporters but spoke with a quiver in his voice at times — a stark contrast to the press conference that he held when his 24-hour tenure as head coach of the Jets in 2000 ended by writing “I resign as HC of the NYJ” on a napkin just before forcing a trade to the Patriots for a package of draft picks.
“For me this is a day of gratitude and celebration,” said Belichick, who doubled as the Patriots’ de facto general manager. “We had a vision of building a winner, building a championship football team here. And it’s exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations — the amount of success we were able to achieve together through a lot of hard work and the contributions of so many people.”
But, as is often the case with iconic runs across sports, Belichick’s reign ended on a sour note.
The Patriots stumbled to a 4-13 record — complete with a loss to the hated Jets in his final game — and now are 29-38 since Brady’s free-agent departure in 2020 marked the end of a dynasty.
“Something isn’t quite right from where it was,” Kraft said.
And yet the demand for the 71-year-old Belichick’s services could be like nothing ever seen before, with the Falcons and Commanders at the forefront of the seven teams with head-coaching vacancies.
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Patriots inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo is considered the in-house favorite to replace Belichick, while Mike Vrabel, who was fired as Titans head coach this week, is a Patriots Hall of Famer who could return to the site of his best playing years.
“I’ll always be a Patriot,” Belichick said. “I look forward to coming back here, but at this time we are going to move on. I look forward to and am excited for the future, but always very, very appreciative of the opportunity, the support here.”
The Patriots are letting Belichick out of his contract with one year remaining instead of trying to trade him out of respect for his legacy.
“I didn’t think it was right for Tom Brady, who gave us 20 years,” Kraft said, “and I don’t think it’s right for Bill.”
The other option discussed was to adjust Belichick’s responsibilities so he was just a coach with less say over personnel. Kraft confirmed that Belichick is looking to coach elsewhere in 2024.
“Every decision has been his, and we’ve always supported him,” Kraft said. “To then take that power away and give it to someone else … it’s going to set up confusion and [blaming], ‘It was his pick and that was a bad pick,’ or ‘He didn’t play him right.’ It wouldn’t work, in my opinion.”
Belichick’s 302 career regular-season victories — 266 of which came with the Patriots — rank third all time behind Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318).
Only Shula (347) leads Belichick (333) in combined victories when the playoffs are added.
The defining moment of Belichick’s career happened in Week 2 of the 2001 season, when franchise quarterback Drew Bledsoe was knocked out of a game by the Jets.
An unproven Brady stepped in, played well enough over the next few weeks to keep a healthy Bledsoe on the bench and ultimately led the Patriots to their first Super Bowl win in an upset of the Rams.
Belichick boldly traded Bledsoe to the rival Bills, clearing the path for Brady and Belichick to become the greatest of all time in their respective jobs.
A hallmark of Belichick’s tenure was his year-to-year adaptability to his roster’s ever-changing strengths in the free-agency era — win with defense, win with ground-and-pound offense, win with Brady throwing bombs — and his game-to-game adjustments to capitalize on an opponent’s weaknesses.
Belichick’s critics point to his 84-103 record without Brady, including 36-44 during his five-year stint as Browns head coach (1991-95).
What we know about the split between the Patriots and Bill Belichick
The Patriots and Bill Belichick will reportedly part ways on Thursday after 24 years and six Super Bowl wins.
Rumors had swirled around Belichick’s future all season as the Patriots finished with a 4-13 record and missed the playoffs for the third time in four seasons. Belichick met with Patriots owner Robert Kraft over the past several days before reaching the mutual decision.
Belichick notched a 266-121 overall record with the Patriots and has another 31 playoff victories.
The 71-year-old has no plans to retire, and needs just 15 more wins to match Don Shula’s all-time wins record — regular season and playoffs — by a head coach in NFL history.
Patriots inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo — who was the heir apparent — has taken over the job and become the next New England head coach.
The two GOATs also experienced their share of controversies, whether SpyGate I (videotaping opposing coaches’ sideline signals as reported to the league by the Jets in 2007), Deflategate (allegedly deflating footballs to their advantage in the 2014 AFC championship game) or Spygate II (filming signals again in 2019). In each case, the Patriots were fined and docked draft picks.
Belichick’s career is deeply rooted in New York, where he rose to prominence as the two-time Super Bowl-winning defensive coordinator of the Giants under Bill Parcells.
He later lost two Super Bowls to the Giants, including one in a bid for a 19-0 season in 2007.
After he failed with the Browns, Parcells and Belichick reunited, first with Belichick as Parcells’ assistant head coach with the 1996 Patriots and then as his defensive coordinator with the Jets from 1997-99.
A succession plan was in place with former Jets owner Leon Hess that fell apart once Hess died in May 1999.
Kraft regretted not hiring Belichick to replace Parcells in 1997 and made it happen in 2000.
“What Bill accomplished,” Kraft said, “in my opinion, will never be duplicated.”
Belichick is the third football coaching legend to step down in the last two days. Super Bowl-winner Pete Carroll — who preceded Belichick with the Patriots — parted ways with the Seahawks, and Nick Saban — who was Belichick’s defensive coordinator with the Browns — retired from Alabama after six national titles.
