After 24 seasons and six Super Bowl trophies together, the New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick agreed to mutually part ways Thursday morning, according to multiple reports.
Belichick was hired as the Patriots’ head coach ahead of the 2000 season after the team traded a draft pick to the New York Jets to hire him. That then led to a historic run in New England, in which he was always a thorn in the side of the Pittsburgh Steelers.
During his 24-year tenure in New England, Belichick was 266-121 and walks away from the Patriots with 332 career wins including playoffs, which leaves him just 15 wins short of tying Hall of Fame head coach Don Shula for most wins all-time in the NFL.
During his New England tenure, Belichick and the Patriots largely owned the Steelers, going 14-4 against Pittsburgh from 2000-23. That includes a 3-0 mark in the playoffs, all three wins coming in the AFC Championship Game and keeping the Steelers from adding more Lombardi trophies to their display case.
Most recently, Belichick and the Patriots got one last win in the head-to-head matchups with the Steelers, defeating Pittsburgh 21-18 in Week 14 at Acrisure Stadium on Thursday Night Football. That dropped the Steelers to 7-6 and marked their second straight loss to a two-win team at the time after losing to the Arizona Cardinals in Week 13 just four days prior.
In his final season with the Patriots, Belichick went just 4-13, giving the Patriots a top-five pick in the 2024 NFL Draft.
While his tenure is now over in New England, chances are Belichick isn’t done coaching. There are currently a number of job openings across the NFL in which Belichick’s name has been tied to, including the Atlanta Falcons and the Los Angeles Chargers. Sitting just 15 wins away from breaking Shula’s record and putting himself further into the history books, Belichick will undoubtedly coach again.
Where is the question.
His tenure in New England was a great one, but one that was filled with controversy, including Spygate. It was discovered during the 2007 season that the New England Patriots were videotaping opposing coaches’ signals during games, which was something the Patriots had allegedly been doing since Belichick took over as head coach in 2000.
There was also Deflategate, not to mention some headset communication issues during a game against Pittsburgh in 2015 in New England that infuriated the Steelers at the time. Despite the scandals, Belichick remains the greatest coach of all time, one who will be enshrined in Canton in the Pro Football Hall of Fame one day soon.
What a tenure it was. From the Steelers’ perspective, thankfully it’s over.
In another report from Schefter, former Patriots linebacker and current inside linebackers coach Jerod Mayo is expected to be one of the leading candidates for the job. Presumably the list of Belichick successors would also include former Patriots outside linebacker and most recently the head coach of the Tennessee Titans, Mike Vrabel.
