End of an Era for Belichick and the Dynasty He Built

The owner of the New England Patriots, Robert Kraft, and his head coach for 24 years, Bill Belichick, shook hands, hugged, and talked about the good times during a nine-minute press conference on Thursday that ended an era that may never be duplicated again in the National Football League.Messrs. Kraft and Belichick spoke for about four minutes each and left the podium together without taking questions, officially ending their prolific partnership that produced six Super Bowl victories.“I’ll always be a Patriot,” Mr. Belichick said. “I look forward to coming back here. But at this time we’re going to move on. I’m looking forward and excited about the future, but always very appreciative of the support here and opportunity here.”Mr. Belichick’s departure from New England ensures the sidelines of college and professional football won’t be the same next season. Mr. Belichick’s departure comes less than 24 hours after Nick Saban announced he was retiring as the head coach at Alabama and Pete Carroll stepped down as the head coach of the Seattle Seahawks. That equates to seven Super Bowls and nine college national championships. If there were a Mount Rushmore for football coaches, all three would be on it.Mr. Belichick, 71, became the Patriots head coach in 2000 after infamously resigning following one day as the head coach of the New York Jets. With Tom Brady as his quarterback, Mr. Belichick and the Patriots won 17 AFC East titles and appeared in 13 AFC Championships Games and nine Super Bowls, winning six. Mr. Belichick also captured two Super Bowls as the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. New England, though, struggled after Mr. Brady’s departure following the 2019 season. The Patriots made the playoffs in 2021 but endured an 8-9 record in 2022 and a disastrous 4-13 record this season.During Thursday’s press conference, the coach and owner reflected only on the good times. Mr. Belichick thanked his coaches, players, the support staff, and Mr. Kraft. The coach got emotional when talking about the fans. “The fans here are amazing,” he said. “I have so many memories of the fans, the send-offs, the parades, the Sundays, the letters of support, and seeing the fans at a gas station or the grocery store.”Including his five years as the Cleveland Browns head coach — where Mr. Saban served as his defensive coordinator — and the playoffs, Mr. Belichick has 333 wins. That ranks second all-time behind the 347 of a former Miami Dolphins coach, Don Shula. Although he had one year remaining on his contract, Mr. Belichick immediately became a free agent able to coach another team without New England receiving compensation. There are currently eight coaching vacancies in the NFL. The seven other openings are Las Vegas, Atlanta, Seattle, Carolina, Washington, Tennessee, and the Los Angeles Chargers. One of them figures to hire the man many consider the GOAT of NFL head coaches. “It’ll be difficult to see him in a cut-off hoodie on the sideline,” Mr. Kraft said. “But I will always continue to wish him continued success except when he’s playing our beloved Patriots.”A day earlier, arguably college football’s greatest coach — Mr. Saban — announced he was retiring. During his 17 seasons at Alabama, Mr. Saban won six national championships, 11 Southeastern Conference titles, and 201 games. Mr. Saban, 72, also won a national title at Louisiana State University before a brief stint as head coach of the Miami Dolphins.Mr. Saban told ESPN that his health was an issue in his decision to retire, saying, “Last season was difficult for me from just a health standpoint, not necessarily having anything major wrong, but just being able to sustain and do things the way I want to do them.”Mr. Carroll, 72, announced on Wednesday that he is ending a 14-year stint as the Seahawks head coach to take an advisory role within the organization. He compiled a 137-89-1 regular-season record in Seattle and led the franchise to the playoffs 10 times, including a Super Bowl championship in the 2013 season. The long-time Seahawk’s 173 regular-season wins are tied for 15th in league history. The Seahawks, though, haven’t won a playoff game since 2019 and missed the postseason this year for the second time in the last three seasons. Mr. Carroll joined the Seahawks in 2010 after coaching the University of Southern California to two national titles.

End of an Era for Belichick and the Dynasty He Built

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