Bill Belichick is reportedly parting ways with the New England Patriots.
The longtime head coach, 71, is expected to announce his departure from the NFL team sometime Thursday, according to ESPN.
Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft have been on the phone all week discussing the move and how best to approach it, sources told the newspaper, noting there was no animosity between the two Patriots leaders.
NFL insiders broke the same news, claiming the decision to leave Belichick was a mutual agreement with the Patriots.
Belichick himself has yet to comment on the news, but is expected to during a news conference with Kraft, 82, on Thursday. He remains interested in coaching and is expected to explore other head coaching vacancies in the league, according to ESPN.
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Bill Belichick in Foxboro, Massachusetts on October 1, 2017.
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With a historic six Super Bowl titles under his belt, Belichick has secured his place among the greatest NFL coaches of all time. He joined the Patriots in 2000 after stints with the New York Giants and New York Jets, as well as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns.
2022 marks Belichick’s 49th consecutive season as a league coach. That anniversary broke the NFL record previously held by Dick LeBeau of 45 consecutive seasons as a coach.
In 2020, Belichick noted his departure from the Jets just one day after taking over as head coach to join the Patriots as “not just one of the highlights, but you know, one of the great moments of my career.”
He told WEEI Sports Radio that the Jets position “wasn’t a good situation for me and I didn’t want to be a part of it.”
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Bill Belichick in Houston on February 5, 2017.
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Three weeks later, Kraft made a trade to secure Belichick as New England’s head coach. “Combined with Robert giving me the opportunity to come here, I couldn’t ask for anything more,” Belichick said.
Among Belichick’s most notable accomplishments is his association with former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, with whom he famously took a chance in 2001 and helped lead the team to its first Super Bowl title.
The team won consecutive Super Bowls in 2003 and 2004, as well as in 2014, 2016 and 2018.
After Brady’s departure from the Patriots in 2020, the team began to slowly fall off the top and finished this season with a record of 4-13.
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Bill Belichick; Tom Brady.
Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty
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Last December, Belichick faced questions from reporters about his future with the organization, as the Patriots had won just 3 games at that point.
Multiple media outlets reported that the team intended to fire him as head coach after the season due to his performance, and NBC cited the Patriots’ 10–6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Germany as the reason for the decision.
When reporters asked him about his future with the team in December, Belichick would only discuss the Patriots’ next game, repeating the phrase, “We’re getting ready for Kansas City.”
Brady, 46, rose to his former coach’s defense as Belichick faced criticism for the team’s performance this season, calling him “the best coach, in my opinion, in the history of the game,” during an appearance on The Stephen A. Smith Show.
The legendary quarterback, who retired last year after two seasons with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, added of Belichick: “It’s hard for me to think about him not being in New England.”
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Source: HIS Education