Bill Belichick

William Stephen "Bill" Belichick (pronounced /ˈbɛlɨtʃɪk/; born April 16, 1952) is an American football head coach for the New England Patriots of the National Football League. After spending his first 15 seasons in the league as an assistant coach, Belichick got his first head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns in 1991. Of his five seasons coaching Cleveland, only one featured a winning record, and Belichick did not serve as head coach again until 2000 with the Patriots. Since then, Belichick has coached the Patriots to four Super Bowl appearances: victories in Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, and XXXIX, and a loss in Super Bowl XLII. He was named the AP NFL Coach of the Year for the 2003, 2007 and 2010 seasons.

Early life

Bill Belichick was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Annapolis, Maryland, where his father Steve Belichick was an assistant football coach at the United States Naval Academy. He graduated from Annapolis High School in 1970. While there, he played American football and lacrosse, with the latter being his favorite sport.^[1] He enrolled at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts for a postgraduate year, with the intention of improving his grades and test scores in order to be admitted into a quality college.^[2] The school would honor him forty years later by inducting him into its Athletics Hall of Honor in 2011.^[3]

He subsequently attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where he played center and tight end. In addition to being a member of the football team, he played lacrosse and squash, serving as the captain of the lacrosse team during his senior season. A member of Chi Psi fraternity,^[4] he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1975.^[5] He would eventually be part of the inaugural induction class into the university's Athletics Hall of Fame in Spring 2008.^[6]

Coaching career

Early coaching positions

After graduating, Belichick took a $25-per-week job as an assistant to Baltimore Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda in 1975.^[7] In 1976, he joined the Detroit Lions as their assistant special teams coach before adding tight ends and wide receivers to his coaching duties in 1977. He spent the 1978 season with the Denver Broncos as their assistant special teams coach and defensive assistant.

New York Giants

In 1979, Belichick began his 12-year stint with the New York Giants alongside head coach Ray Perkins as a defensive assistant and special teams coach. He added linebackers coaching to his duties in 1980 and was named defensive coordinator in 1985 under head coach Bill Parcells, who had replaced Perkins in 1983. The Giants won Super Bowls following the 1986 and 1990 seasons. His defensive game plan from the New York Giants' 20-19 upset of the Buffalo Bills in Super Bowl XXV is now in the Pro Football Hall of Fame.

Cleveland Browns

From 1991 until 1995, Belichick was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. During his tenure in Cleveland he compiled a 36–44 record, leading the team to the playoffs in 1994. In Belichick's last season in Cleveland the Browns finished 5–11. In November of that year Browns owner Art Modell announced he would move the team to Baltimore after the season. Belichick resigned early in February 1996.^[8]

New England Patriots (1996)

After leaving Cleveland, Belichick served under Parcells again as assistant head coach and defensive backs coach with the Patriots for the 1996 season. The Patriots finished with an 11-5 record, won the AFC championship, but lost to the Green Bay Packers at Super Bowl XXXI.

New York Jets

Soon after Super Bowl XXXI, Belichick (and most of the Patriots assistant coaches) migrated with Parcells to the New York Jets. Belichick served as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the Jets from 1997 to 1999. When Parcells stepped down as head coach in 1999, he had already arranged with team management to have Belichick succeed him. However, Belichick would be the New York Jets' head coach for only one day. When Belichick was introduced as head coach to the media—the day after his hiring was publicized—he turned it into a surprise-resignation announcement. Before taking the podium, he scrawled a resignation note on a sheet of loose leaf paper that read, in its entirety, "I resign as HC of the NYJ." He then delivered a half-hour speech explaining his resignation to the assembled press corps.^[9]

Soon after this bizarre turn of events, he was introduced as the New England Patriots' new head coach; the team had tried to hire him away from Parcells/the Jets in the past. Parcells and the Jets claimed that Belichick was still under contract to the Jets, and demanded compensation from the Patriots. NFL Commissioner Paul Tagliabue agreed, and the Patriots gave the Jets a first-round draft pick in 2000 in exchange for the right to hire Belichick.^[10]

New England Patriots

Bill Belichick was named New England Patriots head coach in 2000, succeeding Pete Carroll. Until 2009, Belichick split many of the duties normally held by a general manager on other clubs with player personnel director Scott Pioli, now the general manager of the Kansas City Chiefs while retaining the final say in decisions.^[11] Since the departure of Pioli, team owner Robert Kraft has given Belichick almost complete authority over football operations, effectively making him the team's general manager as well. He is one of three current NFL coaches with the title or powers of general manager, the others being the Philadelphia Eagles' Andy Reid and the Washington Redskins' Mike Shanahan.

The Patriots went 5-11 in the 2000 regular season and missed the playoffs. To date, this is Belichick's only losing season with the Patriots.

In 2001, the Patriots went 11–5 in the regular season, and defeated the Oakland Raiders and Pittsburgh Steelers on the way to the Super Bowl. In Super Bowl XXXVI, Belichick's defense held the St. Louis Rams' offense, which had averaged 31 points during the season, to 17 points, and the Patriots won on a last second field goal by Adam Vinatieri. The win was the first Super Bowl championship in Patriots history.

The following season (2002), the Patriots went 9–7 and missed the playoffs. New England finished with the same record as the New York Jets, but the Jets clinched the AFC East title as a result of the third tiebreaker (record among common opponents).

The Patriots' 2003 season started with a 31–0 loss to the Buffalo Bills in week 1 a few days after they released team defense captain Lawyer Milloy. The team went on to win 14 out of their remaining 15 games. In the final week of the regular season the Patriots avenged their loss to the Bills by the same 31–0 score. They defeated the Tennessee Titans in the AFC Divisional round. Playing against the Indianapolis Colts and Co-MVP Peyton Manning (Steve McNair of the Titans was also Co-MVP) the Patriots recorded 4 interceptions, and advanced to Super Bowl XXXVIII, where they defeated the Carolina Panthers 32-29 on a late Adam Vinatieri field goal. Belichick also was awarded with the NFL Coach of the Year Award.

In 2004, the Patriots once again went 14–2, and defeated the Colts in the AFC divisional round. They opened the season at 6–0, which combined with the 15 straight wins to end the previous regular season, those 21 straight wins broke the record for most wins in a row (18 regular season wins in a row), formerly held by the Miami Dolphins during and just after their perfect 1972 season with 18 straight wins (16 regular season, 1971–73). They defeated the Pittsburgh Steelers in the AFC Championship game. In Super Bowl XXXIX the Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles and became only the second team to win three Super Bowls in four years. Belichick is the only coach to accomplish this feat.

With a new defensive coordinator in Eric Mangini and no named offensive coordinator, the Patriots went 10–6 in 2005 and defeated the Jacksonville Jaguars in the Wild Card round before losing to the Denver Broncos in the divisional round.

The Patriots went 12-4 in 2006 and defeated the New York Jets in the Wild Card round. They then beat the San Diego Chargers the next week, before losing to the eventual Super Bowl XLI winner Indianapolis Colts in the AFC Championship game 38-34. The Patriots led 21-3 mid-way during the second quarter, and the Colts comeback was the largest in AFC playoff history since the Bills recovered from a 35-3 halftime deficit to beat the Houston Oilers.

In 2007, Bill Belichick led the Patriots to the first perfect regular season since the introduction of the 16-game regular season schedule in 1978, only the fourth team to do so in National Football League history after the 1934^[12] and 1942 Chicago Bears^[13] and 1972 Miami Dolphins. However, the Patriots were upset in Super Bowl XLII by the New York Giants^[14] The Patriots' failure to attain a "perfect season" (undefeated and untied, including playoffs) preserved the Miami Dolphins as the sole team to do so, having finished their 1972 regular season at 14-0 and having won three games in the playoffs. Only two other teams in professional football have recorded a perfect season - the 1948 Cleveland Browns (14–0) of the then All-America Football Conference and the 1948 Calgary Stampeders (12-0) of the Canadian Football League. No team in the former American Football League had a perfect season.

In the Patriots' 2008 season-opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, quarterback Tom Brady suffered a season-ending injury in the first quarter, leading to the substitution by back-up quarterback Matt Cassel for the remainder of the season. However, with a win in week 2, the Patriots broke their own record for regular season wins in a row with 21 (2006–08). After losing over a dozen players to the injured reserve list, including Rodney Harrison, Adalius Thomas, and Laurence Maroney, the Patriots still managed their league-leading eighth consecutive season with a winning record, going 11–5. Nevertheless, the Patriots, who finished second in the highly competitive AFC East failed to qualify for the NFL playoffs losing tiebreakers to the Dolphins who were also 11-5 and won the division; the 1985 Denver Broncos are the only other 11-win team to miss the playoffs in a 16-game season.

Illegal sideline videotaping

In an incident dubbed "Spygate,"^[15] on September 9, 2007, NFL security caught a Patriots video assistant taping the New York Jets' defensive signals from an on-field location. Jets coach Eric Mangini, a former Patriots assistant, tipped off league officials that the Patriots might have been filming their signals. After the game, the Jets formally complained to the league.

On September 13, the NFL fined Belichick $500,000—the largest fine ever imposed on a coach in the league's 87-year history,^[16] and fined the Patriots $250,000. Additionally, the Patriots forfeited their first round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Goodell said that he fined the Patriots as a team because Belichick exercises so much control over the Patriots' on-field operations that "his actions and decisions are properly attributed to the club." Goodell considered suspending Belichick, but decided that taking away draft picks would be more severe in the long run.^[17]

Belichick later issued the following statement:

"I accept full responsibility for the actions that led to tonight's ruling. Once again, I apologize to the Kraft family and every person directly or indirectly associated with the New England Patriots for the embarrassment, distraction and penalty my mistake caused. I also apologize to Patriots fans and would like to thank them for their support during the past few days and throughout my career. [...] As the Commissioner acknowledged, our use of sideline video had no impact on the outcome of last week's game. We have never used sideline video to obtain a competitive advantage while the game was in progress. [...] Part of my job as head coach is to ensure that our football operations are conducted in compliance of the league rules and all accepted interpretations of them. My interpretation of a rule in the Constitution and Bylaws was incorrect. [...] With tonight's resolution, I will not be offering any further comments on this matter. We are moving on with our preparations for Sunday's game."

Despite this incident, Belichick was awarded the 2007 NFL Coach of the Year Award, as voted on by the Associated Press.^[18]

Contract status

Although the Patriots are known for being very secretive about the details of Belichick's contract,^[19] an ESPN.com report in September 2007, shortly after the Spygate incident began, indicated that the Patriots had extended Belichick's contract, before the 2007 season began, through at least the 2013 season.

Overall record in New England

Under Belichick, the Patriots have gone 139–53-0 in 12 regular seasons. The team also sports a 14-5 record in the playoffs, and 3–1 in Super Bowls. They have won eight division titles, including five consecutive titles from 2003 to 2007 (and only missed the playoffs on tiebreakers in 2002 and 2008). The Patriots have also defeated each regular season MVP they have faced in that year's playoffs (Kurt Warner in Super Bowl XXXVI, Peyton Manning and Steve McNair after the 2003 season, Manning in 2004, LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006).

Head coaching record

Coaching tree

Bill Belichick has worked under five head coaches:

• Ted Marchibroda, Baltimore Colts (1975)
• Tommy Hudspeth, Detroit Lions (1976–1977)
• Red Miller, Denver Broncos (1978)
• Ray Perkins, New York Giants (1979–1982)
• Bill Parcells, New York Giants (1982–1990), New England Patriots (1996), New York Jets (1997–1999)

Six of Belichick's assistant coaches have become NFL head coaches:

• Romeo Crennel, Cleveland Browns, (2005–2008) Kansas City Chiefs (2011-Present) (Interm)
• Al Groh, New York Jets (2000)
• Josh McDaniels, Denver Broncos (2009–2010)
• Eric Mangini, New York Jets (2006–2008), Cleveland Browns (2009–2010)
• Nick Saban, Miami Dolphins (2005–2006)
• Jim Schwartz, Detroit Lions (2009–present)

Five assistant coaches have become NCAA Division I head coaches:

• Kirk Ferentz, Iowa (1999–present)
  • Ferentz's son Brian Ferentz, who played for his father at Iowa from 2001–2005, joined the Patriots scouting department in 2008 and later their coaching staff in 2009
• Al Groh, Wake Forest (1981–1986), Virginia (2001–2009)
• Pat Hill, Fresno State (1997–present)
• Nick Saban, Michigan State (1995–1999), LSU (2000–2004), Alabama (2007–present)
  • Josh McDaniels was a graduate assistant under Saban in 1999 before joining the Patriots
• Charlie Weis, Notre Dame (2005–2009), Kansas (2011–present)
  • Two graduate assistants for Weis at Notre Dame, Shane Waldron and Patrick Graham, are now assistant coaches for Belichick

One assistant coach has become a Canadian Football League head coach:

• John Hufnagel, Calgary Stampeders (2008–present)

Eleven assistant coaches or executives under Belichick have become assistant head coaches, coordinators or executives in the NFL:

• Jeff Davidson, offensive coordinator of the Carolina Panthers (2007–present), assistant head coach and offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns (2006)
• Thomas Dimitroff, general manager for the Atlanta Falcons (2008–present)
• John Mitchell, assistant head coach of the Pittsburgh Steelers (2007–present)
• Ozzie Newsome, general manager for the Baltimore Ravens (2002–present)
• Scott Pioli, general manager for the Kansas City Chiefs (2009–present)
• Joel Collier, assistant general manager for the Kansas City Chiefs (2009–present)
• Mike Tannenbaum, general manager for the New York Jets (2006–present)
• Brian Daboll, offensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns (2009–2011), offensive coordinator for the Miami Dolphins (2011-)
• Rob Ryan, defensive coordinator for the Dallas Cowboys (2011-), defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns (2009–2010), defensive coordinator for the Oakland Raiders (2004–2008)
• Brad Seely, special teams coordinator of the San Francisco 49ers (2011-present), assistant head coach/special teams coordinator for the Cleveland Browns (2009–2011)
• Charlie Weis, offensive coordinator for the Kansas City Chiefs (2010)
• Josh McDaniels, offensive coordinator for the St. Louis Rams (2011-present)

Belichick has been known to cultivate ties with the collegiate branches of his coaching tree: in the 2005 NFL Draft, the Patriots drafted two players from Fresno State, while in the 2006 NFL Draft, the Patriots drafted one Notre Dame player, and then signed two more as free agents after the draft.

In addition, Belichick is a devoted student of the game; during the offseason, he has spent significant amounts of time visiting with other programs to learn from their experiences. For example, he has studied the Navy run offense, sought Bill Walsh (in past years) to understand more about the San Francisco 49ers as an organization and the West Coast offense as a system,^[20] and spent time with Jimmy Johnson to learn about drafting and contract negotiations.^[21]

Similarly, Belichick paid several visits to former University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer.^[21] Meyer considers himself a protégé of Belichick and has tried to emulate Belichick's success at New England.^[22] Rutgers University head coach Greg Schiano has been an annual visitor to New England Patriots' minicamps. Schiano has consulted with Belichick on a variety of topics, most notably defense.^[23]

Personal life

Belichick was married to Debby Clarke, but they divorced in the summer of 2006.^[24] They allegedly separated before the 2004 season, which was disclosed by the Patriots in July 2005. Belichick was also accused of maintaining a relationship with former Giants receptionist Sharon Shenocca which helped precipitate her divorce.^[25] Belichick was seen with Linda Holliday of Jupiter, Florida several times in Arizona during the week leading up to Super Bowl XLII.^[26] Belichick also had Sharon Shenocca flown in for the game.^[27] He has three children with Debby Clarke Belichick: Amanda, Stephen and Brian. Amanda is a 2007 graduate of Wesleyan University, where both she and her father played lacrosse. After college, she worked at Connecticut preparatory school Choate Rosemary Hall as a lacrosse coach and member of the admissions department. In 2009, she became an assistant coach for the University of Massachusetts Amherst women's lacrosse team,^[28] before joining the Ohio State Buckeyes in the same position the next year.^[29] Stephen is a lacrosse player who currently attends Rutgers University on scholarship. Brian attends Suffield Academy.

Belichick is a Croatian American. His father, Steve Belichick (born Stephen Biličić), played for the Detroit Lions and was an assistant coach and scout with the United States Naval Academy football team for 33 years. Bill reportedly learned to break down game films at a young age by watching his father and the Navy staff do their jobs.^[30] His paternal grandparents Ivan Biličić and Marija (Mary) Barković emigrated from Karlovac, Croatia (from the village of Draganić) in 1897 and left for the USA, where they settled in Monessen near Pittsburgh.^[31]

Steve Belichick was an advisor on the sidelines of the Patriots through the 2004 season, and was famous for taking a hit accidentally from Patriots wide receiver Troy Brown in a game in 2000; he was not hurt in the incident.

Steve Belichick maintained strong ties with the Croatian community in Pennsylvania. When he married, at the suggestion of Immigration Center, he changed his surname from Biličić into Belichick.^[31]

Media and entertainment

• A two-hour documentary following Belichick through the entire 2009 season was aired as the first two episodes of the NFL Network documentary series A Football Life. According to NFL Network, the premiere was the most-watched documentary in the history of the NFL Network, and the second-most watched broadcast in the Boston media market, beating all the broadcast networks, and finishing second only to a Boston Red Sox game.^[32]
• Belichick had a cameo appearance in an episode of the Denis Leary drama Rescue Me as a mourner at a funeral, alongside former Boston Bruin Phil Esposito.
• In the Madden NFL video game series his name is not used and is known as "NE Coach" because he is not a member of the NFL Coaches Club, which licenses the game. Belichick is the only NFL head coach who has chosen not to join the association. This also applied to Bill Parcells when he was Dallas Cowboys head coach because his contract with ESPN prohibited it.
• Belichick is well known as a fan of the rock band Bon Jovi, who visited Patriots training camp on August 14, 2006.^[33] Their 2002 song "Bounce" is dedicated to Belichick.^[34]

Notes and references

Further reading

• Halberstam, David (2006). The Education of a Coach. New York: Hyperion. ISBN 1401308791 

External links

• New England Patriots bio
• Bill Belichick NFL.com coach page
• Coaching history
• Coaching record at pro-football-reference.com