Bill Belichick is leaving the Patriots after 24 seasons, sources say

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are expected to cap off a remarkable 24 seasons together on Thursday, ending an unprecedented run in NFL history that included six Super Bowl titles, league sources told ESPN.

Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft spent a good part of this week meeting periodically and discussing how each side should proceed. Sources familiar with the discussion said that there was no misunderstanding, no misunderstanding, and in the end, fruitful talks resulted in a mutual decision that made both parties feel comfortable and at ease.

Both Belichick and Kraft, as one outside party put it, “took the high road,” befitting an owner-coach tandem that will go down as one of the greatest and most decorated in NFL history.

Belichick, who has one year left on his contract, will be allowed to leave the team without the Patriots’ compensation. He wants to stay on as coach and is expected to draw interest from at least the other seven NFL teams with coaching openings, possibly the Atlanta Falcons, league sources said.

The Patriots now begin their first head coaching search in a quarter century. Patriots linebackers coach Jerrod Mayo, who the team signed to a contract extension in the offseason, and Kraft, who has been named as a candidate for head coach, may be the frontrunners for the job, according to sources. Mayo played for the Patriots from 2008 to 2014 and has been an assistant under Belichick since 2019.

Belichick’s departure from New England is expected to come less than 24 hours after close friend Nick Saban retired from Alabama.

There is symmetry and similarity between two football legends — the men considered the greatest coach in professional history and the greatest coach in college football history. Belichick helped lead the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl titles. Saban led Alabama to nine SEC titles and six national championships.

Saban also replaced Pete Carroll as Ohio State’s secondary coach in 1980. Belichick worked with Saban in Cleveland from 1991 to 1994. And Belichick replaced Carroll as the Patriots’ head coach in 2000 before all three resigned within a 24-hour period this week.

Belichick and Kraft going their separate ways is sad, but not surprising. Kraft pointed out how important the playoffs are to the Patriots this season. Instead, they were one of the first teams eliminated on December 10th.

Much of Belichick’s future revolved around the 2023 season, with one of the team’s low points coming in a 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts on Nov. 12 in Frankfurt, Germany.

Speaking before that game last season, the 82-year-old Kraft told the NFL Network: “It was really disappointing. I was hoping things would get a lot better like I know our fan base did. It’s what we were hoping for this year.”

Another key factor for Kraft is the direction of the franchise after quarterback Tom Brady leaves as a free agent after the 2019 season. Since losing Brady, who hurt Kraft, the Patriots have posted winning records in three of the four seasons, and their last playoff victory was against the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on Feb. 3, 2019 — when Brady was still on the team.

Belichick, 71, leaves New England with 333 career wins, second only to Don Shula’s 347. Belichick, George Halas and Cooley Lambeau are the only NFL coaches to win six championships since the league began play after Seattle in 1933.

Belichick’s 24-year tenure as a head coach is the fifth-longest of any team. He completed his 49th consecutive NFL season in 2023, the most consecutive coaching seasons in league history.

Now he’s looking to spend season No. 50 with another NFL franchise.

Belichick’s resume includes the following signs that are expected to hold up in the future:

• 17 division titles, the most by a head coach in NFL history, tied for second with Shula, Andy Reid and Tom Landry with 13.

• Nine conference championships, by a head coach in the Super Bowl era.

• 12 Super Bowl appearances (including relief appearances).

• 21 winning seasons as a head coach, trailing only Halas (40), Shula (33), Lambeau (33) and Landry (29).

• One of four undefeated and undefeated regular seasons in NFL history (2007). It was the only one under the 16-game schedule from 1978 to 2020.

The Patriots are scheduled to hold a news conference with Belichick and Kraft at noon ET Thursday, and it will end a remarkable period in Patriots and football history.