As most would retire, Bill Belichick was never the type to retire. After he left his job as head coach of the New England Patriots, a position he held for 24 seasons, he went on to be named the head coach for the University of North Carolina, the dream he has had since he was a kid. His dad also coached at North Carolina as the assistant coach, and Bill is following in his dad’s footsteps.
Belichick was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on April 16, 1952. Belichick was named after College Football Hall of Fame coach Bill Edwards, who was his godfather. Belichick was raised in Annapolis, Maryland, where his father was an assistant football coach at the United States Naval Academy. Belichick always said his father was one of his most important football mentors, and Belichick often studied football with him. Bill reportedly learned to break down game films by watching his father and the Navy staff do their jobs at a young age.
Belichick graduated from Annapolis High School in 1970. Belichick attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he played center and tight end. In addition to being a football team member, Belichick played lacrosse and squash, serving as the lacrosse team captain during his senior season. Belichick went on to earn a bachelor’s degree in economics in 1975.
After graduating, Belichick took a $25-per-week job as an assistant to Baltimore Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda in 1975. He bounced around on many teams like the Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, New York Giants, and New York Jets before becoming the Cleveland Browns head coach in 1991-1995. He was also with the New England Patriots in 1996 for one year after going to the New York Jets from 1997-1999. In 2000 he started an adventure he will never forget, going back to the New England Patriots where he was for 24 seasons.
When Bill was in his first years of being the head coach of the Patriots he had a rough first season missing the playoffs finishing 5-11. His next season in 2001 he led the team to a 11-5 record, improving the team. But the next year in 2002 Bill led the Patriots to a Superbowl championship. Next year in 2003 they had another moderate season with nothing too special. Going into 2004, the team looked strong, winning a Super Bowl two years in a row. After winning the Super Bowl two years in a row the Patriots lost a lot of skill and talent and didn’t win another Super Bowl until 2015.
After the Patriots 2005 season 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 1934 and 1942 Chicago Bears and 1972 Miami Dolphins.
During the Patriots’ 2008 season-opener against the Kansas City Chiefs, quarterback Tom Brady sustained a season-ending injury in the first quarter. Backup quarterback Matt Cassel was named the starter for the remainder of the season. After losing over 12 players to the injured reserve list, including Rodney Harrison, Adalius Thomas, and Laurence Maroney, Bill, and the Patriots still managed their league-leading eighth consecutive season with a winning record, going 11–5. 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 Wild Card Round.
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. Going into 2011, the Patriots topped the AFC with a 13-3 record. Following a victory over the Denver Broncos in the divisional round of the playoffs, the Patriots won the AFC Championship game, beating the Baltimore Ravens 23–20. 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 New York Giants by a score of 21–17. The Patriots finished the 2012 regular season with a 12–4 record. In the divisional round of the playoffs, they defeated the Houston Texans by a score of 41–28 and made it to the AFC Championship Game, where they lost to the Baltimore Ravens by a score of 28–13, ending their season.
The Patriots were soon to go on and off the next six seasons, in 2013 they lost to the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game by a score of 26–16. 2014 was another season that had an outcome that Bill didn’t want. In 2015, They reached Super Bowl XLIX, defeating the Seattle Seahawks by a score of 28–24.[110] With his fourth championship as head coach, Belichick tied Chuck Noll for most Super Bowl wins by a head coach. Then in 2016, During the AFC Championship Game, the Patriots narrowly lost to the Denver Broncos by a score of 20–18. Back to another Super Bowl win in 2017, 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 fifth Super Bowl title as a head coach. Then back to another season of disappointment in 2018 Bill and the Patriots fell to the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl LII. Finally, in 2019, Bill’s final Super Bowl championship, the Patriots defeated the Los Angeles Rams 13–3 to give Belichick his sixth Super Bowl championship as a head coach and his eighth overall to have the most Super Bowl rings in NFL history.
The Patriots were Super Bowl champions in 2002, 2004, 2005, 2015, 2017, and 2019. After all those amazing seasons for Bill, widely regarded as one of the greatest head coaches of all time, he holds numerous coaching records, including the record of most Super Bowl wins (six) as a head coach, all with the New England Patriots, along with two more during his time as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants, for a record eight combined total Super Bowl victories as coach and coordinator. At the time Belichick left the Patriots, he was the NFL’s longest-tenured active head coach. Belichick has the most playoff coaching wins all-time with 31 and ranks third in regular season coaching wins in the NFL with 302.
On December 11, 2024, Belichick was named the 35th head football coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels football team. This would be Belichick’s first time coaching at the college level. He will reportedly earn $10 million annually, with the first three years guaranteed, and $3.5 million in annual incentives. Bill has seemed to make it clear that he is not leaving his new home at North Carolina.