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Bill Belichick

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Bill Belichick
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William Stephen "Bill" Belichick (born April 16, 1952) is the 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 get another head coaching opportunity until 2000 with the Patriots. Since then, Belichick has coached the Patriots to three Super Bowl victories in Super Bowl XXXVI, Super Bowl XXXVIII, and Super Bowl XXXIXand an undeafeated season (16-0) in the 2007 season. This undeafeated record is the first time that a team has gone undeafeated since the 1972 Miami Dolphins.

Early life

Belichick was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Annapolis, where his father Steve, a former Detroit Lions player and ethnic Croat, was an assistant football coach at the United States Naval Academy. After graduating from Annapolis High School he attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts for a postgraduate year. Belichick subsequently attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut where he played center/tight end. In addition to being a member of the football team, he also played lacrosse and squash, serving as the captain of the lacrosse team during his senior season. He is a member of Chi Psi fraternity and graduated in 1975 with a degree in economics.

Coaching career

Early coaching positions

After graduating, he took a $25-per-week job as an assistant to Baltimore Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda in 1975. In 1976, Belichick joined the Detroit Lions as their assistant special teams coach before adding tight ends and wide receivers to his coaching duties in 1978. He then spent one year in 1978 with the Denver Broncos as their assistant special teams coach and defensive assistant. Belichick then began his 12-year stint with the New York Giants and head coach Ray Perkins in 1979 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, as is his defensive game plan from the Patriots' 20-17 win over the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI.

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 its most recent playoff game win in 1994. Based on his performance, many fans in Cleveland think of him as an uncommunicative, dictatorial and arrogant coach who made many questionable moves, including benching and then cutting much-beloved quarterback Bernie Kosar in 1993 in order to replace him with Vinny Testaverde, a move that sparked great controversy in the area. 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 which cut the legs out from under the already struggling team.[1]

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, Belichick became the new Jets head coach. However, Belichick's introduction to the media the following day turned out to be 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.[2]

Shortly afterward, he accepted an offer from the Patriots to become their new head coach, who had previously tried to hire him away from the Jets. Parcells and the Jets claimed that Belichick was still under contract, 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.[3]

New England Patriots

Bill Belichick was named New England Patriots head coach in 2000, succeeding Pete Carroll.

2000 season

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

2001 season

New England 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 in the franchise's first Super Bowl victory.

2002 season

The Patriots went 9-7 and missed the playoffs.

2003 season

The Patriots' 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, including the last twelve of the regular 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 Pats 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.

2004 season

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 12 straight wins to end the previous regular season, broke the record for most wins in a row, formerly held by the Miami Dolphins during and just after their perfect 1972 season, with 18 straight wins. 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 3 Super Bowls in 4 Years. Belichick is the only coach to accomplish this feat. Charlie Weis left for Notre Dame University following the game, and Romeo Crennel became the head coach of the Browns.

2005 season

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

2006 season

The Patriots went 12-4 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 Championship game history.

2007 season

Bill Belichick led the Patriots to the first perfect regular season since the introduction of the 16-game regular season schedule in 1978. The Patriots are only the second team in the Super Bowl-era to have attained a "perfect season", after the Miami Dolphins, who finished the 1972 regular season at 14-0 and won three games in the playoffs. [4]

Illegal sideline videotaping

Dubbed "spygate",[5] on September 9, a Patriots video assistant was caught by NFL security filming the New York Jets' defensive signals. 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.

Two days later, Belichick issued a statement "to apologize to everyone who has been affected," and also stated that he spoke with NFL commissioner Roger Goodell about Belichick's "interpretation of the rule."[6] Page 105 of the 2007 NFL's "Game Operations Manual" states, "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." Belichick stated that he believed that if footage so collected was not used during the game, its collection was legal. [7]

On September 13, Belichick was officially fined $500,000 -- the largest fine ever imposed on a coach in the league's 87-year history,[8] and the maximum permitted under league rules. The Patriots were also fined $250,000. Additionally, the Patriots will forfeit their first round draft pick in the 2008 NFL Draft. If the Patriots had missed the playoffs, they would have instead forfeited their second and third round selections in the 2008 draft. Goodell said that he fined the Patriots as a team because Belichick is effectively the team's general manager as well as head coach, and 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. [9] The Patriots officially clinched their fifth straight AFC East title on November 25, in the process becoming the first NFL team to be docked a first-round pick.

Belichick issued a statement in which he apologized for what he called a "mistake" in his interpretation of the rules. However, he denied ever using videotape to gain an advantage while a game was underway.[10]

Despite this issue, Belichick was awarded the 2007 NFL Coach of the Year Award, as voted on by the Associated Press. [11]

Contract status

Although the Patriots are known for being secretive about the details of Belichick's contract,[12] an ESPN.com report indicated that the Patriots had extended Belichick's contract, before the season began, through at least the 2013 season.[13]

Overall record in New England

Under Belichick, the Patriots have gone 75-37 in seven seasons. The team has also gone 12-2 in the playoffs, and 3-0 in Super Bowls. They have also won five straight division titles (2003-2007) and six overall. The Patriots have also never lost to a regular season MVP in the playoffs (Kurt Warner in Super Bowl XXXVI, Peyton Manning and Steve McNair after the 2003 season, Manning in 2004, LaDainian Tomlinson in 2006).

Coaching tree

As of February 14, 2007, seven members of Belichick's "coaching tree" were head coaches of either other NFL teams or NCAA Division I football programs:

In addition, eight former Belichick assistants now serve as coordinators, assistant head coaches, or executives for teams around the league:

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,[14] and spent time with Jimmy Johnson to learn about drafting and contract negotiations.[15]

Similarly, in recent years, he has paid several visits to University of Florida head coach Urban Meyer.[15] Meyer considers himself a protégé of Belichick and has tried to emulate Belichick's success at New England.[16] Rutgers University head coach Greg Schiano has been an annual visitor to New England Patriots' mini-camps the last few seasons. Schiano has consulted with Belichick on a variety of topics, most notably defense. Schiano has rewritten his entire defense, creating a version of the Belichick 3-4 defense. Schiano uses more of a zone scheme than Belichick, but the traits are similar.[17]

Family life

Belichick was married to Debby, but they divorced in the summer of 2006.[18] 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.[19] Belichick has three children: Amanda, Stephen and Brian. Amanda is a graduate of Wesleyan University, where her father went to college. Stephen is a standout lacrosse player who will attend Rutgers University in 2007 on scholarship. Stephen was placed on probation for six months following a marijuana possession conviction in 2006.[20]

Belichick is a Croatian American. His father, Steve Belichick (born Steven Beličić), 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.[21] His paternal grandparents Ivan Beličić and Marija (Mary) Barković emigrated from Karlovac, Croatia in the late 1890s.

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.

Media appearances

  • In the Madden game series his name is not used and is known as "NE Coach" because he is not a member of the NFLHCA (NFL Head Coaches Association), 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.

Notes and references

  1. ^ Vito Stellino (1995-11-07). "Change of cities turns villain Modell into hero". The Baltimore Sun. Retrieved 2007-01-25. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  2. ^ Pete McEntegart (2006-07-28). "The 10 spot". SI.com. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  3. ^ Bob George (2006-01-13). "How exactly will history judge Parcells? (Pt 3)". BosSports.net. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  4. ^ "Sweet 16 and 0". sportsillustrated.com. Retrieved 2007-12-29.
  5. ^ Pedulla, Tom (2007-09-12), "Belichick apologizes for 'Videogate'", USA Today {{citation}}: Check |author-link= value (help); External link in |author-link= (help)
  6. ^ Belichick issues apology, says he's spoken with Goodell ESPN.com. Accessed 12 September 2007.
  7. ^ [1] Boston.com. Accessed 11 December 2007.
  8. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=3018338
  9. ^ http://www.boston.com/sports/football/patriots/articles/2007/09/14/big_fines_for_belichick_team/
  10. ^ Belichick statement at Patriots Web site
  11. ^ Belichick voted coach of year for second time in four years. ESPN, Accessed 2008-01-02.
  12. ^ Report: Belichick earns new deal
  13. ^ Sources: Patriots give Belichick long-term extension
  14. ^ Charles Robinson (2007-07-30). "Unlikely influence". Yahoo! Sports. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  15. ^ a b Tom Curran (2007-04-03). "Busman's holiday for Belichick". NBCsports.com. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  16. ^ David Scott. "Belichick in Gator Land". Boston Sports Media. Retrieved 2007-08-01. {{cite web}}: Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  17. ^ "Greg Schiano In The House". 2007-06-06. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help)
  18. ^ Bella English (2007-03-04). "After a bruising year, Belichick opens up". The Boston Globe. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  19. ^ Gayle Fee and Laura Reposa (2006-07-20). "Belichick Named 'Other Man' in nasty N.J. Divorce". The Boston Herald. Retrieved 2007-04-03. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  20. ^ http://sports.espn.go.com/nfl/news/story?id=2644054
  21. ^ Halberstam, David. The Education of a Coach. Hyperion, 2005. (ISBN 1-4013-0879-1)
  22. ^ "THE cast of "Ugly Betty" gives Bill Belichick a fabulous mode makeover, transforming him into Tom Brady". The Futon Critic. 2006-10-27. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
  23. ^ "Belichick plugs in his rocker friend". The Boston Globe. 2004-01-29. {{cite web}}: Check date values in: |date= (help); Italic or bold markup not allowed in: |publisher= (help)
Preceded by New England Patriots Head Coach
2000–present 		Succeeded by
Current coach
Preceded by Cleveland Browns Head Coach
1991–1995 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Super Bowl Winning Head Coaches
Super Bowl XXXVI, 2001 		Succeeded by
Preceded by Super Bowl Winning Head Coaches
Super Bowl XXXVIII, 2003
Super Bowl XXXIX, 2004 		Succeeded by
Preceded by NFL Coach of the Year Award
2003 		Succeeded by
Preceded by NFL Coach of the Year Award
2007 		Succeeded by
Incumbent
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