Who is Bill Belichick?

Edwards was also close with Steve Belichick, who played for him at Western Reserve and for the Detroit Lions and later served as an assistant under him at Vanderbilt and North Carolina. Belichick's son Bill was named after Edwards, who was also Bill's godfather. Bill Belichick later became an assistant coach in the NFL and is the head coach of the New England Patriots as of 2022. At what is now known as Case Western Reserve University, the football stadium, DiSanto Field, hosts its distinguished guests inside the "Coach Bill Edwards President's Suite."

Bill Edwards (American football coach)

William Miller Edwards (June 21, 1905 – June 12, 1987) was an American football player and coach. He served as the head football coach at Western Reserve University, Vanderbilt University and Wittenberg University in a career lasting more than 30 years, compiling a win-loss-tie record of 168–45–8. Edwards also coached the Detroit Lions of the National Football League (NFL) from 1941 to 1942, tallying a 4–9–1 record, and served as an assistant coach for the NFL's Cleveland Browns in the late 1940s.

Raised near Massillon, Ohio, Edwards was the son of an immigrant from Wales who worked in the area's coal mines. He played football at Massillon Washington High School and enrolled at Ohio State University, where he stayed for a year before transferring to Wittenberg University. After college, Edwards began his coaching career at high schools in Ohio. He got his first job as a college head coach in 1935 at Western Reserve, now known as Case Western Reserve University, in Cleveland, Ohio and guided the team to a 49–6–2 record over six seasons. Edwards was then hired to coach the Lions, but his brief stay there was unsuccessful, and he was fired at the beginning of the 1942 season. He enlisted in the U.S. Navy later that year and served in the military during World War II until his discharge in 1946.

Edwards spent a year selling sporting goods in Cleveland, returning to football in 1947 with the Browns as an assistant to head coach Paul Brown, a close friend and former Massillon schoolmate. After two years as the team's tackle coach, he was hired by Vanderbilt in 1949. He stayed there for four years and amassed a 21–19–2 record, but resigned in 1953 under pressure from alumni. After two years as an assistant coach at the University of North Carolina, Edwards was hired by Wittenberg, his alma mater, as head football coach and athletic director. He spent the rest of his career there, serving as head coach until 1968 and remaining as athletic director until 1973. While at Wittenberg, he was named the country's college football coach of the year twice, and his teams posted an overall record of 98–20–4. He was inducted into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986. Edwards, described as a tough but compassionate coach, had an influence on many men he worked with, including Steve Belichick, the father of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick. Steve Belichick played for Edwards at Western Reserve and with the Lions, and coached with him at Vanderbilt. Edwards was the godfather of Bill.

Edwards grew up in Massillon, Ohio and attended Massillon Washington High School. He was a schoolmate of Paul Brown, who later became the coach of the Cleveland Browns and helped found the Cincinnati Bengals in the National Football League. The son of a Welsh coal miner, Edwards dropped out of school when he was 14 to help his family by working in the mines of East Greenville, near Massillon. He returned three years later, however, and became a star player on Massillon's football team. Edwards was a linebacker at Massillon between 1922 and 1924.

Edwards enrolled at Ohio State University and was Brown's roommate as he captained the Buckeyes freshman football team. After the season, however, he transferred to Wittenberg University in Springfield, Ohio. At Wittenberg, he played as a center starting in 1928 and was the captain of the football team in 1929 and 1930. A tough player, Edwards did not like to wear a helmet, saying "you skin your ears a little without them, but I never had any trouble." He won All-Ohio honors at Wittenberg and was named an honorable mention All-American in 1930. One of Edwards's most memorable games as a collegian came in 1928 against the Ohio Wesleyan Battling Bishops. In the last game of a season in which Wesleyan had a perfect record and beat football powerhouses Michigan and Syracuse, Edwards kicked an extra point as time expired and gave Wittenberg a 7–6 victory. Grantland Rice, a prominent sportswriter of the time, called him the best center in college football. Walter Eckersall of the "Chicago Tribune" named him an All-American.

Edwards got his first coaching job in 1931, when he was hired as an assistant football coach at Springfield High School. He also taught history at the school. The following year, he got his first head coaching job at Fostoria High School in Fostoria, Ohio. After two seasons at Fostoria, during the second of which the team put in its best performance in 10 years with an 8–2 record, he left to coach the freshman football team at Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio in 1933. When Reserve head coach Sam Willaman died suddenly in August 1935, players lobbied for Edwards to take his place; Edwards got the job. Edwards brought in former Massillon and Wittenberg teammate and Fostoria aide Dugan Miller as his chief assistant, and the Western Reserve Red Cats went undefeated in his first two seasons as coach. The team had a 49–6–2 record between the 1935 and 1940 seasons under Edwards. In his last season, Western Reserve reached the Sun Bowl in El Paso, Texas against Arizona State and won the game 26–13 on New Year's Day in 1941.

Having built a strong record at Western Reserve, Edwards was in the running for head coaching roles at a number of larger universities and professional teams. He met with officials at Marquette University and was considered a candidate for coaching duties at Colorado University and for the National Football League's Detroit Lions. After visiting with Lions owner Fred Mandel, Edwards ultimately was hired in February 1941 to succeed George Clark. Both Edwards and Dugan Miller signed two-year contracts. Edwards was given a $10,000 annual salary ($ in dollars), more than double the $4,420 he was paid at Western Reserve.

Edwards's stint as the Lions coach was unsuccessful. He guided the team to a 4–6–1 record in 1941, and Mandel fired him after three straight losses to begin the 1942 season as the team's roster was depleted by players' service in World War II. Detroit went on to lose all the rest of its games after John Karcis was named his replacement.

Edwards enlisted in the U.S. Navy later in 1942 as America's involvement in the war intensified. While in the military, he served at St. Mary's Pre-Flight, a training program in California, and coached the Air Devils football team there. He also served at a base in Pensacola, Florida. Edwards was discharged in 1946, and spent a year in the sporting goods business in Cleveland, Ohio before reuniting with Brown, who had become the first coach of the Cleveland Browns in the All-America Football Conference (AAFC). Edwards took a position as a tackle coach and remained with the team for two seasons. He coached tackles including Ernie Blandin, Lou Rymkus and future Pro Football Hall of Fame member Lou Groza. The Browns won the AAFC championship in both of Edwards's years as an assistant; the team won all of its games in 1948, turning in professional football's first perfect season.

Edwards was hired as Vanderbilt University's head football coach and athletic director in 1949, replacing Henry Russell Sanders when Sanders left to become head coach at the University of California, Los Angeles. Vanderbilt gave the 43-year-old coach a three-year contract paying a $12,500 salary ($ in today's dollars). "I don't like to leave the Cleveland Browns and Paul Brown in particular," he said at the time. "I'll never forget my experiences with the Browns over the past two years." Edwards remained at Vanderbilt for four seasons, building up a 21–19–2 record. He instituted a modern T formation offense to replace Sanders's more traditional single-wing formation. He resigned in 1953 under pressure from Vanderbilt alumni following a 3–5–2 season. He then moved to the University of North Carolina, where he was an assistant on the football team's coaching staff in 1953 and 1954.

Edwards was hired as athletic director and head football coach at Wittenberg, his alma mater, in 1955. He put in a pro-style offense and focused on passing because his players were smaller than many opponents. "We had small players, but little guys can throw the football and little guys can catch it, whereas you need big guys to block for a running game," he said in 1973. Under Edwards, the Wittenberg Tigers were a major success, amassing a 98–20–4 record in 14 seasons and winning the NCAA College Division national championship poll in 1962 and 1964. Edwards's teams were unbeaten three times and lost one game in five of his seasons there. He was named Ohio College Football Coach of the Year in 1957 by his fellow coaches. The American Football Coaches Association named him coach of the year in 1963 and 1964, when the Tigers won all of their games. He was called "a combination of Genghis Khan and Santa Claus" by "Sports Illustrated" for being both tough and sympathetic to his players.

Edwards resigned from coaching in 1969, when he was 63 years old, although he continued to work at Wittenberg as the school's athletic director. Dave Maurer, his long-time assistant, took over as the school's coach. By the end of his career, Edwards's 168–45–8 overall college record gave him the second-best winning percentage in the country among active coaches with at least 100 wins. Edwards was given a commendation by President Richard Nixon for his achievements as a coach and won a Football Writers Association of America award for contributions to the game. "His retirement is Wittenberg's loss, but more than that, it is college football's loss," University of Alabama coach Bear Bryant said at the time.

Edwards retired in February 1973 after 39 years as a coach and administrator and said he would concentrate on hunting and fishing. He was inducted into the Ohio Football Coaches Association Hall of Fame in 1979, Wittenberg's Athletics Hall of Honor in 1985 and into the College Football Hall of Fame in 1986. He was also inducted into the Western Reserve Hall of Fame and the Vanderbilt Hall of Fame in 1986. Edwards died in 1987. He and his wife Dorothy had three children.

The tough but compassionate approach to coaching Edwards espoused influenced many men who worked under him, including Maurer, who led Wittenberg to a 129–23–3 record between 1969 and 1983. Wittenberg's football stadium is named Edwards-Maurer Field in honor of both head coaches. The winner of the Wittenberg-Case Western Reserve football game receives the "Bill Edwards Trophy".

William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Belichick has extensive authority over the Patriots' football operations, effectively making him the general manager of the team as well. He holds numerous coaching records, including winning a record five Super Bowls as a head coach, and two more as an assistant coach.

Bill Belichick

Belichick began his coaching career in 1975, and by 1985 was the defensive coordinator for New York Giants head coach Bill Parcells. Parcells and Belichick won two Super Bowls together (XXI and XXV) before Belichick left to become the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 1991. He remained in Cleveland for five seasons, and was fired following the team's 1995 season. Belichick then rejoined Parcells, first in New England, where the team lost Super Bowl XXXI, and later with the New York Jets.

After being named head coach of the Jets in early 2000, Belichick resigned after only one day on the job to accept the head coaching job for the New England Patriots on January 27, 2000. Since then, Belichick has led the Patriots to 16 AFC East division titles, 13 appearances in the AFC Championship Game, and nine Super Bowl appearances. He was named the AP NFL Coach of the Year for the 2003, 2007, and 2010 seasons. His teams won Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, XLIX, and LI and lost Super Bowls XLII, XLVI, and LII. Belichick's appearance in Super Bowl LII extended his record to eight Bowls as a head coach, as well as being a record eleventh participation in a Super Bowl in any capacity. This also tied him with Neal Dahlen for the most Super Bowl wins in any capacity with seven. In addition, the Patriots' appearance in Super Bowl LIII will be their eleventh, the most of any team.

Belichick is the NFL's longest-tenured active head coach, and currently third all-time in regular season coaching wins in the NFL at 261, and first in playoff coaching wins with 30. He completed his 40th season as an NFL coach in 2014 and won his fifth Super Bowl as a head coach following the 2016 season, surpassing former Pittsburgh Steelers head coach Chuck Noll as the only head coach to win five Super Bowls. He is one of only five head coaches with four or more titles in NFL history. He is also the only head coach in NFL history to win three Super Bowl championships in a four-year span. He is widely considered to be one of the greatest coaches in NFL history by current and former players, his peers and the press.
Belichick was born in Nashville, Tennessee, the son of Jeannette (Munn) and Steve Belichick. He was raised in Annapolis, Maryland, where his father was an assistant football coach at the United States Naval Academy. Belichick has cited his father as one of his most important football mentors, and Belichick often studied football with his father. He graduated from Annapolis High School in 1970 with classmate Sally Brice-O'Hara. While there, he played football and lacrosse, with the latter being his favorite sport. He enrolled at Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts, for a postgraduate year, with the intention of improving his grades and test scores to be admitted into a quality college. The school honored him 40 years later by inducting him into its Athletics Hall of Honor in 2011.

Belichick 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, he earned a bachelor's degree in economics in 1975. He would eventually be part of the inaugural induction class into the university's Athletics Hall of Fame in spring 2008.

After graduating, Belichick took a $25-per-week job as an assistant to Baltimore Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda in 1975. 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.

In 1979, Belichick began a 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.

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, his only winning year with the team. Coincidentally, his one playoff victory during his Browns tenure was achieved against the Patriots in the Wild Card round during that postseason. In Belichick's last season in Cleveland the Browns finished 5–11, despite starting 3–1. One of his most controversial moves was cutting quarterback Bernie Kosar midway through the 1993 season. Kosar was signed by the Dallas Cowboys two days later and won a ring with the Cowboys in Super Bowl XXVIII. In November 1995, in the middle of the ongoing football season, Browns owner Art Modell had announced he would move his franchise to Baltimore after the season. After first being given assurances that he would coach the new team that would later become the Baltimore Ravens, Belichick was instead fired on February 14, 1996, one week after the shift was officially announced.

After his dismissal by the Cleveland Browns, 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 and won the AFC championship, but they lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI amid rumors of Parcells's impending defection.

Belichick had two different stints as the head coach of the New York Jets without ever coaching a game.

In February 1997, Belichick, who had been an assistant coach under Bill Parcells with the New York Giants and New England Patriots, was named the Jets interim head coach while the Jets and Patriots continued to negotiate compensation to release Parcells from his contract with the Patriots and allow Parcells to coach the Jets. Six days later, the Patriots and Jets reached an agreement that allowed Parcells to coach the Jets, and Belichick became the team's assistant head coach and defensive coordinator.

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 napkin 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.
Soon after this bizarre turn of events, he was introduced as the Patriots' 12th full-time head coach, succeeding the recently fired Pete Carroll. The Patriots 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.

Soon after hiring Belichick, owner Robert Kraft gave him near-complete control over the team's football operations, effectively making him the team's general manager as well. Until 2009, Belichick split many of the duties normally held by a general manager on other clubs with player personnel director Scott Pioli, though Belichick had the final say on football matters. Pioli left for the Kansas City Chiefs after the 2009 season.

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, and also the only year in which Tom Brady did not start at quarterback in any regular season games. However, Belichick won 11 games with Matt Cassel in 2008 after Brady suffered a season-ending injury in week 1.

In 2001, the Patriots went 11–5 in the regular season, and defeated the Oakland Raiders (in the "Tuck Rule Game") 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 first in Gillette Stadium—the Patriots went 9–7 and missed the playoffs. New England finished with the same record as the New York Jets and the Miami Dolphins, but the Jets won 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 defensive captain Lawyer Milloy. However, they roared through the remainder of the season to finish 14–2, setting a new franchise record for wins in a season. 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 four 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 finished with a 14–2 record, and they defeated the Indianapolis Colts in the AFC divisional round. They opened the season at 6–0, which combined with the 15 straight wins to end the previous season, gave New England 21 straight wins to break the record for most wins in a row formerly held by the Miami Dolphins with 18 straight victories in the 1972 and 1973 seasons. 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. Earlier, with a season-opening win over the Raiders, Belichick notched his 54th win with the Patriots, passing Mike Holovak as the winningest coach in Patriots history.

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, but the Colts mounted one of the great comebacks in playoff history.

In 2007, 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 and 1942 Chicago Bears and 1972 Miami Dolphins. However, the Patriots were upset in Super Bowl XLII by the New York Giants. 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. Backup quarterback Matt Cassel was named the starter 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 AFC East, missed the playoffs for the first time since 2002, losing tiebreakers to the Dolphins (who won the division on the fourth tiebreaker, better conference record) and the Ravens (who beat out the Patriots for the last playoff spot due to a better conference record). The 1985 Denver Broncos are the only other 11-win team to miss the playoffs in a 16-game season.

In 2009, with a fully healthy Tom Brady back as the starting quarterback, Belichick was able to guide the Patriots to yet another AFC East division title with a 10-6 record. However, the Patriots lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wild Card Game.

In the 2010 season, Belichick and the Patriots finished with a 14–2 record for the top seed in the AFC. However, their postseason ended quickly with a 28–21 loss to the New York Jets in the Divisional Round.

In the 2011 season, the Patriots topped the AFC with a 13–3 record. Following a victory over the Denver Broncos, on January 22, 2012, the Patriots won the AFC Championship game beating the Baltimore Ravens 23–20 when the Ravens failed to score a touchdown and Baltimore's kicker, Billy Cundiff, missed a routine 32-yard field goal attempt to tie the game and send it into overtime. This sent New England to their fifth Super Bowl under Belichick. In Super Bowl XLVI, the Patriots lost in the Super Bowl XLII rematch to the Giants 21–17.

On September 26, 2012, following a 31–30 loss to the Baltimore Ravens, Belichick was fined $50,000 for grabbing a replacement official's arm while asking for more specific clarity on a ruling after Baltimore had narrowly converted a last-second field goal attempt to secure the win. The Patriots finished the 2012 regular season with a 12–4 record and made it to the AFC Championship game before losing to the Baltimore Ravens, ending their season.

Belichick's Patriots began the 2013 season with much upheaval on the offensive side of the ball with the injury of Rob Gronkowski, the arrest and subsequent release of Aaron Hernandez, the departures of Wes Welker to the Denver Broncos and Danny Woodhead to the San Diego Chargers in free agency, and the release of Brandon Lloyd. To replace them, the Patriots signed Danny Amendola in free agency, drafted rookies Aaron Dobson and Josh Boyce, and signed undrafted rookie free agent Kenbrell Thompkins. The team ended the season with a 12–4 record, winning the AFC East and securing a playoff berth and a first-round bye, seeding second in the AFC standings. They lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship by a score of 26–16.

In the 2014 season, Belichick's Patriots recorded a 12–4 record for the third straight season. They reached Super Bowl XLIX, where they defeated the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 28–24. With his fourth championship as head coach, Belichick tied Chuck Noll for most wins by a head coach in a Super Bowl.

In the 2015 season, Belichick's Patriots recorded a 12–4 record for the fourth straight season. They reached the AFC Championship, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl 50 champion Denver Broncos by a score of 20–18.

In the 2016 season, Belichick's Patriots recorded a 14-2 record, which was good for the #1 seed for the AFC playoffs. They reached Super Bowl LI, where they defeated the Atlanta Falcons in a comeback victory by a score of 34–28 in overtime. The Patriots were down 28–3 at one point in the third quarter. With the victory, Belichick won his record fifth Super Bowl title as a head coach.

In the 2017 season, Belichick's Patriots went 13-3, setting an NFL record 8th consecutive 12-or-more win seasons, capturing their 9th consecutive AFC East title and their 15th of the last 17 seasons. They defeated the Tennessee Titans in the Divisional Round 35–14, and the Jacksonville Jaguars in the AFC Championship Game 24-20, claiming their second AFC title in two years, while also extending their record of consecutive AFC Championship appearances with seven. Super Bowl LII was Belichick's eighth title game as head coach and his eleventh overall in any capacity, which was also the Patriot's tenth appearance, all extending NFL records. "The Ringer" wrote that Belichick's "team is different from many of New England's famous teams from the previous decade: The first iteration of the Patriots dynasty relied on defense. This year, they are 29th in yards allowed (though fifth in points allowed) and instead have perfected the art of situational football". The latter Patriots teams have been noted for mounting late comebacks in playoff games.

However, the Patriots fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII, 41–33, as Nick Foles repeated his dominant performance and led Philadelphia to victory in a high-scoring game. The Patriots were down early, as they have been in most of their Super Bowl wins. However, they could not make a comeback this time, although they came very close. The Eagles defense strip-sacked Tom Brady to get the ball back with about 2 minutes to go in the 4th quarter. The Patriots did get the ball again before the end of the game, but they ran out of time to score.

In an incident dubbed "Spygate," on September 9, 2007, NFL security caught a Patriots video assistant taping the New York Jets' defensive signals from the sidelines, which is not an approved location. The NFL rules state "No video recording devices of any kind are permitted to be in use in the coaches' booth, on the field, or in the locker room during the game." 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, and fined the Patriots $250,000. Additionally, the Patriots forfeited their first round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. Roger Goodell, a former employee of the Jets, 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. Gary Myers, "New York Daily News" columnist, stated Belichick should have been suspended by Goodell for the Patriots' next game against the Jets.

Belichick later issued the following statement:

The sanctions against Belichick were the harshest imposed on a head coach in league history until the New Orleans Saints' Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season for covering up a scheme in which bounties were paid for deliberately knocking opponents out of games.

Following the incident and its fallout, Belichick led the Patriots to a perfect 16–0 regular season record, and was awarded the 2007 NFL Coach of the Year Award, as voted on by the Associated Press.

Under Belichick, the Patriots have a regular-season record of 225–79–0 over 19 seasons. Belichick is far and away the winningest coach in Patriots history; his 225 wins with the franchise are more than triple those of runner-up Mike Holovak. Belichick also has compiled a 28–10 record in the playoffs with New England, and 5–3 in Super Bowls. He has led the Patriots to fifteen division titles, including five consecutive titles from 2003 to 2007 and ten consecutive titles from 2009 to 2018. Under Belichick, the team only missed the playoffs in 2000 and on tiebreakers in 2002 and 2008.

Although the Patriots are known for being very secretive about the details of Belichick's contract, 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.

Coaching record accurate as of the end of 2018 regular season.

Bill Belichick has worked under five head coaches:

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

Seven assistant coaches have become NCAA Division I head coaches:

Two of Belichick's former players has become an NFL head coach:

One assistant coach has become a CFL head coach:

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

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, and spent time with Jimmy Johnson to learn about drafting and contract negotiations.

Similarly, Belichick paid several visits to former University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer. Meyer considers himself a protégé of Belichick and has tried to emulate Belichick's success at New England. Former Rutgers University head coach Greg Schiano had been an annual visitor to New England Patriots' minicamps prior to becoming the head coach of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Schiano has consulted with Belichick on a variety of topics, most notably defense.

Belichick was married to Debby Clarke, but they divorced in the summer of 2006. 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. Belichick was seen with Linda Holliday of Jupiter, Florida several times in Arizona during the week leading up to Super Bowl XLII.

He has three children with Debby Clarke Belichick: Amanda, Stephen, and Brian. Amanda is a 2007 graduate of Wesleyan University, where she, like her father, played lacrosse. After college, she worked at Connecticut preparatory school Choate Rosemary Hall as a lacrosse coach and in the admissions department. In 2009 she became an assistant coach for the University of Massachusetts Amherst women's lacrosse team, before joining the Ohio State Buckeyes in the same position the next year. After serving as interim head women's lacrosse coach at Wesleyan, she was named head women's lacrosse coach at Holy Cross College in Massachusetts in July 2015. Stephen played lacrosse and football at Rutgers University on scholarship. Stephen was hired as an assistant coach with the New England Patriots in May 2012;, he is the team's safeties coach. Brian attended Trinity College where he played lacrosse. In 2016 Brian was hired to the Patriots' front office as a scouting assistant.

Belichick is of Croatian ancestry. 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. His paternal grandparents, Ivan Biličić and Marija (Mary) Barković, emigrated from the village of Draganić, Karlovac, Croatia in 1897, settling in Monessen, Pennsylvania.

Bill Belichick

William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Belichick has extensive authority over the Patriots' football operations, effectively making him the general manager of the team as well. He holds numerous coaching records, including winning a record five Super Bowls as a head coach, and two more as an assistant coach.

After graduating, Belichick took a $25-per-week job as an assistant to Baltimore Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda in 1975. 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.

After his dismissal by the Cleveland Browns, 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 and won the AFC championship, but they lost to the Green Bay Packers in Super Bowl XXXI amid rumors of Parcells's impending defection.

Belichick had two different stints as the head coach of the New York Jets without ever coaching a game.

Soon after hiring Belichick, owner Robert Kraft gave him near-complete control over the team's football operations, effectively making him the team's general manager as well. Until 2009, Belichick split many of the duties normally held by a general manager on other clubs with player personnel director Scott Pioli, though Belichick had the final say on football matters. Pioli left for the Kansas City Chiefs after the 2009 season.

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, and also the only year in which Tom Brady did not start at quarterback in any regular season games. However, Belichick won 11 games with Matt Cassel in 2008 after Brady suffered a season-ending injury in week 1.

In 2001, the Patriots went 11–5 in the regular season, and defeated the Oakland Raiders (in the "Tuck Rule Game") 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.

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. Earlier, with a season-opening win over the Raiders, Belichick notched his 54th win with the Patriots, passing Mike Holovak as the winningest coach in Patriots history.

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, but the Colts mounted one of the great comebacks in playoff history.

In 2009, with a fully healthy Tom Brady back as the starting quarterback, Belichick was able to guide the Patriots to yet another AFC East division title with a 10-6 record. However, the Patriots lost to the Baltimore Ravens in the AFC Wild Card Game.

In the 2010 season, Belichick and the Patriots finished with a 14–2 record for the top seed in the AFC. However, their postseason ended quickly with a 28–21 loss to the New York Jets in the Divisional Round.

In the 2014 season, Belichick's Patriots recorded a 12–4 record for the third straight season. They reached Super Bowl XLIX, where they defeated the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 28–24. With his fourth championship as head coach, Belichick tied Chuck Noll for most wins by a head coach in a Super Bowl.

In the 2015 season, Belichick's Patriots recorded a 12–4 record for the fourth straight season. They reached the AFC Championship, where they lost to the eventual Super Bowl 50 champion Denver Broncos by a score of 20–18.

In the 2016 season, Belichick's Patriots recorded a 14-2 record, which was good for the #1 seed for the AFC playoffs. They reached Super Bowl LI, where they defeated the Atlanta Falcons in a comeback victory by a score of 34–28 in overtime. The Patriots were down 28–3 at one point in the third quarter. With the victory, Belichick won his record fifth Super Bowl title as a head coach.

Belichick later issued the following statement:

The sanctions against Belichick were the harshest imposed on a head coach in league history until the New Orleans Saints' Sean Payton was suspended for the entire 2012 season for covering up a scheme in which bounties were paid for deliberately knocking opponents out of games.

Following the incident and its fallout, Belichick led the Patriots to a perfect 16–0 regular season record, and was awarded the 2007 NFL Coach of the Year Award, as voted on by the Associated Press.

Although the Patriots are known for being very secretive about the details of Belichick's contract, 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.

Coaching record accurate as of the end of 2018 regular season.

Bill Belichick has worked under five head coaches:

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

Seven assistant coaches have become NCAA Division I head coaches:

Two of Belichick's former players has become an NFL head coach:

One assistant coach has become a CFL head coach:

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

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.