By Steve Keating
(Reuters) – The Bill Belichick New England Patriots era came to an inglorious end on Thursday as one of the most successful coaches in National Football League history left the team after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles.
Belichick and Patriots billionaire owner Robert Kraft described the decision as a mutual parting of the ways and both hinted that the 71-year-old’s days as an NFL coach are not likely over.
“I will always be a Patriot,” said Belichick during a news conference confirming his departure. “I look forward to coming back here but at this time we are going to move on. I look forward, excited for the future but always very, very appreciative of the opportunity here.”
Belichick built one of the most decorated dynasties in all of North American professional sports using the arm of Tom Brady, the quarterback he drafted with the 199th overall pick in the 2000 NFL draft; and the whatever it takes to win philosophy known as ‘The Patriot Way’.
The coach who majored in economics at Wesleyan University was known for an innovative approach to roster-building in the salary cap era, often trading stars or allowing them to become free agents and get a big payday at another team while he diligently searched for less acclaimed multi-dimensional players of “value”.
All dynasties inevitably decline, and the end for Belichick came this season when his team finished with a dismal 4-13 record, worst in his 29-year head coaching career.
A stern, gruff figure, Belichick possesses a unique style from coaching to attire stalking the sidelines in hoodies with cutoff sleeves that has been described as “hobo-chic”.
Underneath the dull exterior is a brilliant football mind shaped when he was a boy watching hours of game film with his father, who was an assistant coach at the United States Naval Academy.
Appointed head coach in 2000, Belichick led the Patriots to a 266-121 record, 17 AFC East titles — including a league-record streak of 11 in a row from 2009-2019 — and the team’s nine Super Bowl appearances is tied for most by an NFL franchise. Their last Super Bowl victory was in 2018.
He has more Super Bowl appearances as head coach than any team has made in NFL history, except the Patriots who had two before he arrived for a total of 11. His 17 division titles are the most by a head coach with a single club.
The defining decision of Belichick’s career with New England came during the 2001 season when he opted to stick with backup Brady, his sixth round pick in the 2000 NFL draft, when veteran starter Drew Bledsoe was ready to return after injury.
It was a fearless choice. At the time, Bledsoe was a star with one Super Bowl appearance under his belt, but Brady would lead the Patriots that season to the Super Bowl, with a victory over the St. Louis Rams. He and Belichick would go on to win five more Lombardi trophies together.
“We had a vision of building a winner, a championship football team here and it exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations,” said Belichick. “The amount of success we were able to achieve together took a lot of hard work and contributions of so many people.
“Players win games in the NFL and I have been very fortunate to coach some of the greatest players who have ever played and are already in the Hall of Fame and many more will go in.”
Belichick’s time in Foxborough was not without scandal.
In what became known as Deflategate, the Patriots were fined $1 million, forfeited two draft picks and Brady suspended for four games for using partially deflated footballs in their 2015 AFC Championship game victory over the Indianapolis Colts. There was also “Spygate,” in which the Patriots were disciplined for videotaping opposing coaches’ signals during games in 2007.
The Patriots must now find a new head coach and decide what they are going to do with the third overall selection in this year’s draft, where they are widely expected to take a quarterback to begin a major rebuild.
“We met and mutually agreed to part ways amicably,” said Kraft. “Like a good marriage a successful head coach/owner relationship requires a lot of hard work and I am very proud that our partnership lasted 24 years.
“Coach Belichick will forever be celebrated as a legendary sports icon here in New England and I believe he will go in as a Pro Football Hall of Famer on the first ballot.
“Why? Because he is the greatest coach of all-times that makes this decision to part ways so hard but this is a move that we mutually agreed is needed at this time.”
Belichick is expected to generate plenty of interest in teams eager to hire the three-time NFL coach of the year.
The Atlanta Falcons and Washington Commanders could be potential destination or the Seattle Seahawks, after the departure of head coach Pete Carroll.
“It will be difficult to see him in a cutoff hoodie on the sideline,” said Kraft. “I will always continue to wish him success except when he is playing our beloved Patriots.”
(Reporting by Steve Keating in Toronto. Editing by David Gregorio)
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