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Bill Belichick

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William Stephen Belichick (born April 16, 1952 in Nashville, Tennessee) is an American football head coach with Croatian roots, currently head coach of the New England Patriots, a team in the National Football League. Recognized as one of the best coaches in NFL history, he became the head coach of the Patriots before the 2000 season, having previously worked as a defensive coordinator. In the early 1990s, he had been the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Known for his elaborate defensive schemes and business-like coaching style, Belichick achieved great success with the Patriots, leading New England to Super Bowl titles in the 2001, 2003, and 2004 NFL seasons.

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[edit] Early life

Belichick was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and raised in Annapolis, Maryland. After graduating from Annapolis High School, he attended Phillips Academy in Andover, Massachusetts for a postgraduate year. Upon his graduation from Phillips, Belichick 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.

[edit] Assistant Coach

After graduating, he took a $25-per-week job as a coaching assistant with the NFL's Baltimore Colts and began his pro football education. He then became a special teams coach with the Detroit Lions (1976) and the Denver Broncos (1977-78) before joining the staff of the New York Giants and head coach Ray Perkins in 1979. He eventually became linebackers coach and later defensive coordinator under head coach Bill Parcells, who had replaced Perkins in 1983. The Giants won Super Bowls following the 1986 and 1990 seasons.

His defensive gameplan 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 gameplan from the New England Patriots 20-17 upset of the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI (although he was a head coach at this time).

[edit] Head Coach

[edit] 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 a playoff win in 1994. Many fans in Cleveland, however, remember him as the man who benched and then cut much-beloved quarterback Bernie Kosar in 1993, a move that sparked great controversy. In Belichick's last season in Cleveland, the Browns would finish 5-11. In November of that year, Browns owner Art Modell announced he would move the team to Baltimore after the season.[1]

[edit] New York Jets

After leaving Cleveland, Belichick served under Parcells again as assistant head coach/defensive coordinator with the Patriots (1996) and New York Jets(1997-99). When Parcells stepped down as head coach, he anointed Belichick as his replacement. However, his introduction speech 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 rambling 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]

[edit] New England Patriots

Belichick was part of another quarterback controversy in New England during the 2001 season, after Drew Bledsoe was injured in the second game of the season and replaced by Tom Brady. Although Bledsoe eventually recovered from his injury, Belichick elected to keep Brady as his starter. This decision paid off as the Patriots won the Super Bowl that year, and Brady eventually developed into one of the league's best quarterbacks. The Patriots won Super Bowl XXXVI over the St. Louis Rams by a score of 20-17. He also went on to lead the Patriots over the Carolina Panthers in Super Bowl XXXVIII by a score of 32-29 and a victory over the Philadelphia Eagles in Super Bowl XXXIX by a final score of 24-21.

In 2003, the New England Patriots released popular safety Lawyer Milloy, who signed with the Buffalo Bills and helped his new team shutout New England on opening weekend, 31-0. On an episode of NFL Countdown, Tom Jackson claimed that the Patriots were not behind head coach Bill Belichick, saying the following: "Let me say this clearly: they hate their coach." His provocative claim drew fervent denials from the Patriots locker room. Belichick was stunned by the remark and the lack of an apology as the season continued. The Patriots recovered from the Buffalo loss and finished the regular season at a league-best 14-2. After the team was victorious in Super Bowl XXXVIII over the Carolina Panthers, Jackson attempted to shake Belichick's hand. The coach responded: "Go fuck yourself." [citation needed] The post-game interview with Belichick was handled entirely by Berman.

It was also disclosed in January 2006 by Patriots' owner Robert Kraft that Belichick had received a contract extension, although the details of that extension have not been revealed.

[edit] Coaching tree

As of May 1, 2006, three members of Belichick's "coaching tree" were head coaches of other NFL teams, and at least three were head coaches of NCAA Division I football programs:

Belichick, himself, is considered a member of the Bill Parcells coaching tree, a much larger and complex tree of coaches that stretches deep into NCAA and NFL coaching ranks.

In the 2005 NFL Draft, the Patriots drafted two players from Fresno State; 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, and spent time with Jimmy Johnson to learn about drafting and contract negotiations.

In recent years, he has paid several visits to 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, so Patriots fans were not surprised when two Florida players were drafted in 2006, and another three were signed as free agents (in addition to two other Gator alumni already on the roster).

[edit] Family Life

Belichick is married (although a separation from his wife Debby before the 2004 season was disclosed by the team in July 2005) and has two sons and one daughter. His son Stephen is a standout lacrosse player who will attend Rutgers in 2007 on scholarship. Belichick is a Croatian American. His father, the late Steve Belichick (born Steven Bilicic), played for the Detroit Lions and was an assistant coach at 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 Beličić and Mary Barković emigrated from Karlovac, Croatia in the late 1890s.

On July 20, 2006, Belichick was accused in New Jersey divorce proceedings of having a four-year affair with Sharon Shenocca, a former receptionist for the New York Giants he met while the defensive coordinator.[4]

[edit] Trivia

Belichick had a cameo appearance in an episode of the Denis Leary drama Rescue Me as a mourner at a funeral.

On the October 30, 2006 installment of ESPN's Monday Night Countdown, he was featured in a makeover spoof with quarterback Tom Brady, which was done by the three main characters from Ugly Betty (America Ferrera as Betty Suarez, Eric Mabius as Daniel Meade, and Becki Newton as Amanda) [5]. The end result: A photo of Belichick as "Ugly Bill!"

In the Madden game series his name is not used and is known as NE Coach. This also applies for Bill Parcells who is known as DAL Coach.

[edit] External links

Preceded by:
Pete Carroll 		New England Patriots Head Coaches
1999–present 		Succeeded by:
Current coach
Preceded by:
Bud Carson 		Cleveland Browns Head Coaches
1991–1995 		Succeeded by:
Chris Palmer


Boston/New England Patriots Head Coaches
Saban • Holovak • Rush • Mazur • Bengtson • Fairbanks • Erhardt • Meyer • Berry • Rust • MacPherson • Parcells • Carroll • Belichick
Cleveland Browns Head Coaches
Brown • Collier • Skorich • Gregg • Modzelewski • Rutigliano • Schottenheimer • Carson • Shofner • Belichick • Palmer • Davis • Robiskie • Crennel
Current National Football League head coaches
Belichick • Billick • Childress • Coughlin • Cowher • Crennel • Del Rio • Dungy • Edwards • Fisher • Fox • Gibbs • Green • Gruden • Holmgren • Jauron • Kubiak • Lewis • Linehan • Mangini • McCarthy • Marinelli • Mora • Nolan • Parcells • Payton • Reid • Saban • Schottenheimer • Shanahan • Shell • Smith
Retrieved from "http://en.wikivisual.com/index.php/Bill_Belichick"
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