Bill Belichick: New England Patriots head coach to leave team after 24 seasons

The New England Patriots finished the 2023 season with a 4-13 record, the worst of Belichick’s coaching career; the 71-year-old, appointed as Patriots head coach in 2000, steered the team to six wins from nine Super Bowl appearances, the last of those coming in the 2018 season

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: New England Patriots head coach to leave team after 24 seasons />

Chris Simms says Bill Belichick will be back in the NFL within the next month after it was reported that he will leave the New England Patriots.

Bill Belichick is leaving the New England Patriots after 24 seasons as head coach, as reported by NFL Insider Ian Rapoport.

A loss to the New York Jets on Sunday saw the Patriots end the season with a 4-13 record, the worst of the 71-year-old’s tenure, during which he led the team to six Super Bowl rings.

Patriots owner Robert Kraft and Belichick are set to address the media at midday (Eastern time in the US), so roughly around 5pm UK time.

Along with breaking the news on X, formerly known as Twitter, Rapoport reported: “There have been meetings the last three days. In the end, the two sides could not come together for Bill Belichick to return. He is now out.”

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Belichick was appointed as Patriots head coach in 2000 before going on to steer the team to six wins from nine Super Bowl appearances – including three in four seasons – as well as clinching 17 AFC East division titles and playing in four more AFC Championship Games while reaching the playoffs on 18 occasions.

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A look back at Bill Belichick’s record six Super Bowl wins along with quarterback Tom Brady for the New England Patriots.

For the best part of two decades Belichick and future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady spearheaded New England’s iconic dynasty as the most prolific head coach-quarterback tandem in NFL history.

Image: Tom Brady won a seventh Super Bowl in his first season with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2000

Since Brady’s departure following the 2019 season, the Patriots struggled to maintain their dominance, returning a winning record in only one of the following four seasons when going 10-7 in 2021, where they were comfortably beaten by the Buffalo Bills in the first round of the playoffs. Brady, meanwhile, won a seventh Super Bowl with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020.

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Belichick is currently ranked third in the list of all-time career victories by a head coach with 302, leaving him 16 shy of George Halas and 26 away from the great Don Shula’s record.

He established himself as the league’s most influential and dominant defensive mind as he dictated schematic trends, while overseeing a famed recruitment policy that would see New England construct their Championship-winning rosters with cut-price deals and savvy contracts.

Could Vrabel replace Belichick in New England?

Despite being in his 70s, there is an expectation that Belichick wishes to continue coaching in the NFL, while it is rumoured that his replacement in New England could be recently fired Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel.

Image: Could recently fired Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Vrabel take over from Belichick in New England?

The former linebacker won three Super Bowls while playing under Belichick with the Patriots as a player and the 48-year-old has since established himself as one of the most respected coaches in the league.

Taking over the Titans in 2018, Vrabel guided Tennessee to the playoffs in three of his six seasons, advancing as far as the AFC Championship Game in 2019, where his side were beaten by the Kansas City Chiefs.

Vrabel was named Coach of the Year in 2021 but is coming off two successive losing seasons after seeing the Titans finish the 2023 campaign 6-11. He leaves with an overall 54-44 record with the team.

Sourse: skysports.com