Patriots parting with Invoice Belichick, who led staff to six Tremendous Bowl championships: Supply

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FOXBOROUGH, Mass. — Invoice Belichick had a imaginative and prescient of constructing the type of sustained championship soccer staff that had not often been seen earlier than within the NFL when he was employed by the New England Patriots.

He walks away feeling prefer it was a job properly accomplished.

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The six-time NFL champion agreed to half methods because the coach of the Patriots, ending his 24-year tenure because the architect of probably the most adorned dynasty of the league’s Tremendous Bowl period.

“It’s with so many fond recollections and ideas that I take into consideration the Patriots,” Belichick mentioned on Thursday in a media availability with proprietor Robert Kraft. “I’ll all the time be a Patriot. I look ahead to coming again right here. However right now, we’re going to maneuver on. And I look ahead, excited for the longer term.”

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Neither Belichick nor Kraft took questions, although Kraft scheduled an availability for later within the day.

Talking to reporters from the rostrum the place he had given so many terse, non-responsive postgame recaps, Belichick appeared in a jacket and tie and spoke first, adopted by Kraft. The coach even smiled a few occasions — together with when he conceded respect for the media “though we don’t all the time see eye to eye.”

He additionally thanked the followers for “the sendoffs, the parades, the Sundays.” However most of his time was spent thanking the individuals all through the group, particularly the greater than 1,000 Patriots gamers he coached in his time right here.

“Gamers win video games within the NFL,” Belichick mentioned. “I’ve been very, very lucky to teach a few of the best gamers to ever play the sport.”

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Kraft referred to as the connection a wedding that had required work and had come to an finish.

“I’m very proud that our partnership lasted for twenty-four years,” Kraft mentioned. “Invoice has taught me rather a lot over these years, and we had excessive expectations for what we may obtain collectively. I feel we had been the one ones who had these expectations, and I feel it’s protected to say we exceeded them.”

“We did,” Belichick agreed.

“Due to you,” Kraft mentioned.

Belichick, 71, grew to become simply the third coach in NFL historical past to succeed in 300 profession regular-season victories earlier this season, becoming a member of Corridor of Famers Don Shula and George Halas. With 333 wins together with the playoffs, Belichick trails solely Shula (347) for the report for victories by a coach.

However the Patriots ended this season 4-13, Belichick’s worst report in 29 seasons as an NFL head coach. It supplanted the 5-11 mark he managed in his final yr in Cleveland in 1995 and once more in his first yr in New England in 2000. Together with the playoffs, he ends his Patriots tenure with a 333-178 general report.

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Belichick is anticipated to renew his pursuit of Shula’s report elsewhere.

Together with his cutoff hoodies and ever-present scowl, Belichick teamed with quarterback Tom Brady to steer the Patriots to 6 Tremendous Bowl victories, 9 AFC titles and 17 division championships in 19 years. Throughout a much less profitable — but in addition tumultuous — stint with the unique Cleveland Browns, Belichick earned 37 of his profession victories.

Response to Thursday’s announcement poured in throughout social media. It included one from Brady, who responded with three coronary heart emojis to a submit on ESPN’s Instagram web page which had photographs of Belichick and Kraft embracing throughout Thursday’s information convention.

It’s not instantly clear who Kraft will faucet to switch the longer term Corridor of Famer.

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Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo received a Tremendous Bowl ring enjoying underneath Belichick and has interviewed for a number of head teaching vacancies since turning into a New England assistant in 2019. Mayo turned down just a few interviews final offseason earlier than signing a contract extension to stay with the Patriots.

Mike Vrabel, who was fired earlier this week by the Tennessee Titans and received three Tremendous Bowls with the Patriots, can be anticipated to be a candidate for the pinnacle teaching job.

Belichick had been grooming offensive coordinator Josh McDaniels to switch him earlier than McDaniels left following the 2021 season to grow to be the coach of the Raiders. He has since been fired by Las Vegas. Belichick’s two sons, Steve and Brian, are additionally on the teaching workers.

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Belichick’s exit from the Patriots comes only a day after one other teaching nice and longtime pal Nick Saban introduced he’d retire after successful seven faculty nationwide championships. Saban labored for Belichick’s father, Steve, within the Nineteen Eighties as a coach at Navy, and Invoice Belichick employed Saban as his defensive coordinator when he grew to become Cleveland’s head coach in 1991.

The six Tremendous Bowl wins tie Belichick with pre-merger mentors Halas and Curly Lambeau for probably the most NFL championships. Belichick additionally received two rings as Invoice Parcells’ defensive coordinator with the New York Giants.

However the Patriots have stumbled to a 29-38 report since Brady departed following the 2019 season and missed the playoffs in three of these 4 seasons. Starting in 2001 when Brady grew to become the beginning quarterback, the Patriots missed the playoffs solely as soon as _ when Brady was injured in 2008. This marked New England’s fifth consecutive season and not using a playoff victory.

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Belichick’s subsequent options at quarterback haven’t panned out.

Brady’s preliminary substitute, Cam Newton, didn’t resemble the participant who received the 2015 MVP award and was lower after a 7-9 end in 2020. In the meantime, Brady received his seventh Tremendous Bowl ring with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers that very same season.

Potential long-term substitute Mac Jones, a 2021 first-round draft alternative, was a Professional Bowl choice as a rookie and led New England to the playoffs. However he regressed in Yr 2 when Belichick put longtime defensive assistant Matt Patricia answerable for the offense. Jones didn’t fare a lot better this season when Invoice O’Brien returned as offensive coordinator. He was benched 4 occasions earlier than being changed as starter by backup Bailey Zappe for the ultimate six video games.

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That left the Patriots a prolonged rebuild, with no candidate on the roster to carry stability to the game’s most vital place.

Belichick, who additionally served because the de facto basic supervisor with ultimate say on personnel choices, was celebrated for his ingenuity managing the wage cap throughout the run of Tremendous Bowl success. It included getting stars like Brady and others to simply accept cap-friendly contracts or regulate their offers to accommodate the signing of different gamers.

However that acclaim has waned within the years since Brady left, as a run of draft picks and high-priced free brokers didn’t dwell as much as expectations. As well as, Belichick has seen a number of members of his personnel and scouting departments go away for different jobs. The listing contains his former participant personnel director, Nick Caserio, who was employed as Houston’s basic supervisor in 2021.

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Now it received’t be Belichick making the choices for the Patriots on or off the sector.

Belichick, the one youngster of a World Warfare II veteran who spent three many years as a Navy assistant coach, is a soccer historian with an encyclopedic information of technique from the game’s early days to present NFL developments. His gamers mentioned his consideration to element by no means left them unprepared.

Belichick has been a grasp of the NFL rule guide, unearthing loopholes in clock operations and offensive line formations that _ although completely authorized — cemented his popularity as a mad genius.

However his legacy in New England additionally contains two main dishonest investigations — and different minor ones — that price him and the staff draft picks and greater than $1 million in fines. Opponents accused the Patriots of every little thing from hacking their headsets to chopping corners on harm experiences.

His friendship with former President Donald Trump, which Belichick insisted was not political, landed the coach on the listing to obtain a Presidential Medal of Freedom within the waning days of the administration. After the outcry towards the U.S. Capitol siege, Belichick introduced “the choice has been made to not transfer ahead.”

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