Bill Belichick leaving New England Patriots after 24 seasons as head coach

Bill Belichick has announced that he is leaving his position as New England Patriots head coach after 24 seasons.

Belichick and the Patriots made the news official during a press conference at Gillette Stadium in Foxborough, Massachusetts, on Jan. 11.

“(I) haven’t seen this many cameras since we signed (Tim) Tebow,” Belichick said at the top of his news conference, a rare joke from the usually stoic coach, who was alluding to the team signing the former University of Florida quarterback in 2013.

Belichick said he and team owner Robert Kraft decided now was the ideal time for him to step away.

“Robert and I, after a series of discussions, have mutually agreed to part ways. For me, this is a day of gratitude and celebration,” he said.

“We had a vision of building a winner, building a championship football team here,” he continued. “It’s exceeded my wildest dreams and expectations, the amount of success that we were able to achieve together through a lot of hard work and the contributions of so many people.”

“I’ll always be a Patriot,” he added. “I look forward to coming back here. But at this time, we’re going to move on and I’m excited for the future. But always very, very appreciative of the opportunity here, the support here. I’ll always have those great memories. I’ll carry those with me the rest of my life.”

The split had been rumored for weeks in NFL circles, as the Patriots stumbled to a 4-13 record this season.

Kraft said he was amazed how Belichick's tenure worked out.

“Like a good marriage, a successful head coach-owner relationship requires a lot of hard work and I’m very proud that our partnership lasted for 24 years,” he said. “I don’t think in the NFL there’s been any partnership that’s lasted longer and has been as productive as ours.”

He also said Belichick has cemented his legacy in the game.

“Coach Belichick will forever be celebrated as a legendary sports icon here in New England and, I believe, will go in as a Pro Football Hall of Famer on the first ballot. Why? Because he’s the greatest coach of all time,” he said. “Which makes this decision to part ways so hard. But this was a move that we mutually agreed that is needed at this time. What Bill accomplished with us, in my opinion, will never be replicated.”

Belichick’s run as Patriots head coach featured a level of success never seen in the NFL, with him winning six Super Bowls with the organization.

After a pedestrian stint in the 1990s as head coach of the Cleveland Browns and accepting the job as head coach of the New York Jets in 2000 before resigning the very next day, Belichick’s tenure in New England began in the 2000 season when the Patriots went 5-11.

In 2001, the trajectory of the team and the NFL changed forever when starting quarterback Drew Bledsoe went down with an injury in a game against the Jets. Little-known backup Tom Brady stepped in and guided the franchise to its first Super Bowl, a victory over the favored St. Louis Rams. The franchise would win five more with Brady under center, the last one coming in 2019.

Brady left the Patriots for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers after that season and won a Super Bowl with them, while Belichick and the Patriots struggled, posting losing seasons in three of the last four years. They have not won a playoff game since beating the Rams in the Super Bowl in 2019.

Still, Belichick, 71, has left an unforgettable mark on the NFL. He has won 333 games, second most behind Don Shula, and has won six Super Bowl titles with the Patriots, the most of any head coach in the NFL.

He has also appeared as a coach in 12 Super Bowls, including his stints as an assistant. In addition, he guided the Patriots to a total of nine Super Bowl appearances and 17 AFC East titles, as well as 21 seasons with a winning record.

Belichick's departure is the latest in a flurry of high profile head coaching moves in the football world. Longtime Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll, who won one Super Bowl and lost another to Belichick, moved into an advisory role with the franchise on Jan. 10, while University of Alabama head coach Nick Saban, who won seven national championships in his career, announced his retirement the same day.

A three-time AP Coach of the Year, Belichick has one year remaining on his contract with the Patriots and he has been linked to other head coaching jobs in the league.

This article was originally published on TODAY.com