Bill Belichick is the head coach of the New England Patriots and is also considered to be their general manager, having essentially full control over the team’s football-related decisions.
Born on April 16th, 1952, Belichick is considered to be one of the greatest coaches of all time and is currently the NFL’s longest-serving active head coach.
He comes from a coaching family with his father being a former football player, coach, and scout, and all 3 of his children being coaches in either football or lacrosse.
Belichick holds multiple coaching records and is responsible for making the Patriots a viable choice when it comes to NFL odds.
In this article, we go over the long coaching career of Bill Belichick and how he became a legend in the history of the New England Patriots.
Early Coaching Career
Belichick got his first coaching job in 1975, where he was paid $25 (which is about $138 in today’s money) a week to be the special assistant to the Baltimore colts.
From 1975 to 1979, Belichick played a lot of coaching roles for multiple teams, and then in 1980 joined the New York Giants and was a linebackers coach and special teams coach until 1985 when he was appointed defensive coordinator for the New York Giants.
He stayed with the Giants until 1990 and during that time received his first 2 Super Bowl victories. In 1991 he would then change to be the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
Belichick would stay with them until 1995 before joining the Patriots officially (albeit for a brief moment of time) as an assistant head coach and defensive backs coach in 1996.
After a year with the Patriots, Belichick would become the assistant head coach and defensive coordinator of the New York Jets in 1997. In early 2000, Belichick was announced to be the new head coach of the New York Jets, a position he would hold for just one day before resigning.
New England Patriots Head Coach
After resigning as head coach of the New York Jets, Belichick took up the position of the head coach of the New England Patriots, a position he still holds to this day.
While his first season with the Patriots would be a losing season, the 2001 season would see Belichick bring the Patriots to their first-ever Super Bowl win.
They would miss the playoffs in the 2002 season, but the 2003 season would see them finish with a new franchise record of 14-2. That year they also won their second Super Bowl.
They once again finished with a 14-2 record in 2004 and their third Super Bowl win. At this point they had achieved a consecutive win streak of 21, beating the previous record of 18 that was held by the Miami Dolphins.
Their 2004 Super Bowl win allowed them to become the second team in history to win 3 Super Bowls in 4 years. The Dallas Cowboys also achieved this but they had 2 different head coaches across the victories.
2007 would see their first perfect regular season, the first to be done since the introduction of the 16-game season in 1978. They, unfortunately, did not with the Super Bowl making the 1972 Miami Dolphins still the only team to achieve a perfect season.
The Patriots would go on to win 2014, 2016, and 2018 season Super Bowls. Belichick would receive his second-ever losing season with the Patriots in 2020.
As of 2022, Belichick has managed to lead the Patriots to 17 AFC East Division titles, 13 appearances in the AFC Championship game, 9 Super Bowl appearances, and 6 Super Bowl victories.
Records And Awards
During his time as head coach, Belichick has led the Patriots to 6 Super Bowl wins. His total Super Bowl wins are currently at 8 thanks to the 2 he won with the New York Giants. He also has the most Super Bowl appearances with 12, 6 as a head coach.
As head coach he has the most playoff wins with 31, and the most divisional championships at 17.
For the 2003, 2007, and 2010 seasons, Belichick was named AP NFL Coach of the Year.
He was honored with the NFL 2000s all-decade team, the NFL 2010s all-decade team, and the NFL 100th anniversary team of which he is the only active head coach on it.
He was also named to the New England Patriots All-2000s team, 50th Anniversary team, All-2010s team, and the All-Dynasty team.
In 2021, Belichick was named the PFWA Executive of the Year.
Final Thoughts
Bill Belichick is often regarded as the ‘student of the game’ due to his deep knowledge of all the positions and the various strategies in football. He is also an avid American football historian, showing his love for the game.
It is without question that Belichick is the best Patriots head coach, and also one of the best head coaches in the history of the NFL.
He showed that determination plays a lot in a team’s victory and made the Patriots into the franchise they are today.