Belichick leaves Pats after 24 seasons
Coach netted 6 Super Bowl titles
Bill Belichick had a vision of building the kind of sustained championship football team that had rarely been seen before in the NFL when he was hired by the New England Patriots.
He walks away feeling like it was a job well done.
The six-time NFL champion agreed to part ways as the coach of the Patriots, ending his 24-year tenure as the architect of the most decorated dynasty of the league’s Super Bowl era.
“It’s with so many fond memories and thoughts that I think about the Patriots,” Belichick said on Thursday in a media availability with owner Robert Kraft. “I’ll always be a Patriot. I look forward to coming back here. But at this time, we’re going to move on. And I look forward, excited for the future.”
Neither Belichick nor Kraft took questions, though Kraft scheduled an availability for later in the day.
Speaking to reporters from the podium where he had given so many terse, non-responsive postgame recaps, Belichick appeared in a jacket and tie and spoke first, followed by Kraft. The coach even smiled a couple of times — including when he conceded respect for the media “even though we don’t always see eye to eye.”
He also thanked the fans for “the sendoffs, the parades, the Sundays.” But most of his time was spent thanking the people throughout the organization, especially the more than 1,000 Patriots players he coached in his time here.
“Players win games in the NFL,” Belichick said. “I’ve been very, very fortunate to coach some of the greatest players to ever play the game.”