New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick is leaving the team, ending a decadeslong run that produced an unprecedented six Super Bowl victories, according to multiple reports.
The 71-year-old field general, who teamed up with quarterback Tom Brady to build one of pro football’s longest runs of titles, will not coach the team in 2024, NFL reporter Ian Rapoport wrote on X Thursday.
The Patriots did not respond to a request for comment Thursday morning, but an advisory from the team said Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Belichick would hold a news conference at noon.
In addition to his winning ways on the field, passive football fans might best know Belichick for his peculiar sideline fashion and gruff personality, so terse that any signs of personality have been deemed noteworthy over the years.
With no detail too small to address, Belichick once complained that the sleeves of his sweatshirts and hoodies were too long and distracting. His answer was to simply cut off sleeves in one of football’s most well known couture statements.
When the Patriots were embroiled in the 2015 “Deflategate” scandal, as Brady and New England were caught using footballs inflated to pressure below league standards, Belichick pleaded ignorance and made a reference to the “My Cousin Vinny” character Mona Lisa Vito, played by Oscar winner Marisa Tomei.
And this past summer, Belichick appeared to reveal himself to be a secret Swiftie, extolling Taylor Swift’s fearless performance in a downpour at the Patriots’ home, Gillette Stadium.
In 24 seasons controlling the sidelines of Foxborough, Belichick’s Patriots went 266-121 in regular season games.
But it was in the months of January when Belichick’s Canton credentials were sealed, as he led New England to win 30 of 42 playoff games. His Pats hoisted the Lombardi Trophy in 2019, 2017, 2015, 2005, 2004 and 2002.
He tops a list of other Hall of Fame coaches that includes Pittsburgh’s Chuck Noll (four Super Bowls wins), San Francisco’s Bill Walsh…
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