Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick leaving the New England Patriots after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles, reports say
Originally Published: 11 JAN 24 07:29 ET
Updated: 11 JAN 24 07:45 ET
By Jill Martin and Ben Morse, CNN
(CNN) — Bill Belichick is leaving the New England Patriots after 24 seasons and winning six Super Bowl titles with the team, according to multiple reports.
The Athletic, citing unnamed team sources, say Belichick is not expected to return.
Reporters from the NFL Network, citing unnamed sources, say the Patriots and Belichick mutually agreed he would not return.
ESPN, citing unnamed sources, said the Patriots and Belichick are expected to part ways on Thursday.
CNN has reached out to the Patriots for comment. New England has announced that team owner Robert Kraft and Belichick will address the media at noon ET.
The departure brings to an end one of the greatest head coaching runs in NFL history, during which time Belichick changed the fortunes of the Patriots organization.
Paired with era-defining quarterback Tom Brady, Belichick transformed the Patriots into one of the league’s juggernauts, almost consistently making deep playoff runs and contending for the Vince Lombardi Trophy, proving the benchmark for others.
But following Brady’s departure to the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2019, the team has struggled in the regular season and playoffs, with New England finishing with a 4-13 record this past season.
The greatest ever?
Belichick is the only head coach in NFL history to win six Super Bowl titles. He ranks second all-time with 333 total victories as a head coach. His 31 career playoff wins are the most all-time among head coaches.
But more than that, his fingerprints are all over the league.
Current NFL head coach Brian Daboll has connections to Belichick, while other familiar faces around the sport such as Mike Vrabel, Matt Patricia, Brian Flores, Joe Judge, Josh McDaniels, Nick Saban, Romeo Crennel and Eric Mangini can all trace their lineage back to him.
The pinnacle of the Belichick-Brady combination manifested in 2007 when the Patriots made history by becoming the first team to finish the regular season with an undefeated 16-0 record.
With Brady at the helm – he would win MVP that season – and superstar wide receiver Randy Moss on the outside, the team’s offense was almost unstoppable, finishing the season with an NFL-best 36.8 points per game. And paired with a stout defense, New England was a juggernaut.
After blitzing through the playoffs, the Patriots faced the New York Giants in the Super Bowl where, in one of the biggest shocks in NFL history, New England was defeated 17-14, with David Tyree’s “Helmet Catch” being written into folklore.
The dramatic upset wouldn’t stop the Patriots juggernaut, however. Belichick’s ability to transform undervalued pieces into stars and simultaneously dispose of players at exactly the moment they started to hit the downward slope of their careers became legendary and vital in consistently being Super Bowl contenders.
He had consistently faced questions about whether he saw himself as the Patriots’ head coach going forward and had always made sure to respond in his trademark, deadpan manner.
The 71-year-old said on Monday that it was “way too early” to make any decision on his future as the team’s head coach after rumors swirled about whether his time in New England could be drawing to a close.
He also said on Monday that he’d meet with owner Robert Kraft in the coming days to discuss the team’s direction.
This story has been updated with additional information.
The-CNN-Wire
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