The time of Bill Belichick as coach of the Patriots is over “amicably,” says team owner Robert Kraft.
Bill Belichick traded in his signature cutoff hoodie over a sports coat as well as a tie when he left the New England Patriots after 24 years to become a free agent. He is sure to get plenty of offers.
Robert Kraft, the owner of the team, stood next to Belichick as the veteran head coach spoke to the press first.
After talking about it for a while, Robert and I decided to part ways, Belichick said. “Today is a day of thanksgiving and celebration for me.”
Belichick thanks the Krafts, his teaching team, and especially his players. He praised them in public more than he usually did during his tough reign.
And Belichick said, “Players win games within the NFL, and I’ve been lucky to coach some of the best players that have ever played.”
“I admire how all of the players who come to play here everyday act, and I’ve coached over 1,000.”
We’ve had a lot of people who have stayed here for many years and done great things. There are too many to name right now, but thanks to everyone who played.
As Kraft took over the stage from Belichick, they shook hands. Later that afternoon, the team owner was going to take questions, so for now, Kraft was talking about his loyal partner as well as what they had done together.
“I don’t think there’s been a different partnership in the NFL that has worked better and lasted longer than ours,” Kraft said.
Coach Belichick will always be remembered as a prominent figure in New England sports. I think he should be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame right away.
Although it was hard to believe, the move was planned in multiple ways. The Patriots have had a hard time since quarterback Tom Brady left, even though Belichick brought them six Lombardi awards, nine Super Bowl trips, 31 playoff wins, and 17 division titles.
New England has only made the playoffs once in the last four years, and they lost in the round for wild cards.
This season, Belichick managed the worst 4-13 record of his career. Injuries played a part, but his choices about hiring people also came under fire.
In a press conference on Monday at 7:30 a.m., Belichick said he would be open to “whatever, collectively, we decided to be an organization has become the best thing to help the football team.”
However, he didn’t say he would hand over the GM keys. Instead, he stressed that everybody was involved in making choices about people, even though he had the last word.
It was no longer useful for the Patriots. Maybe it wasn’t working for Belichick anymore in New England, but he’s likely to get a lot of attention in a club with eight open head coaching jobs.
Kraft is letting go of what might be the best coach in the NFL to go up against him. He joked that “it’ll be difficult to see” the hoodie on another bench, but he said he’d cheer for Belichick every week except when the Patriots were playing.
The other person and I, Robert Kraft, have agreed to depart after several talks. Today is a day for me to be thankful and celebrate. Let me begin with Robert as well as his family.
Thanks a lot for giving me the chance to be a mentor here for 24 years. Thank you so much for your help. This is a great chance. We saw ourselves making a winner here—a sports team that would win the title.
The amount of achievement that you were able to reach together through lots of hard labor and the help of so many people was beyond my best dreams for myself. I’ll always remember those great times and be proud of what I did.
Those will always be with me. Of course, thanks for being the assistant teachers after Robert. It was really easy for me to do my job because I had such great teachers here.
It’s a long list, but I can’t say enough good things about how hard they work, how prepared they are, and how dedicated they are.
This is true for both the players and the coaches, no matter how long they were here, how many years they coached, or what position they held. It was a great team effort, and everyone gave it their all.
That’s the reason we were successful. Thank you to the teachers and support staff for all the help they gave me.
This includes the scouts and all the football support staff who helped with tools, training, security, video, operations, and more. Dining room: Everything is first-class and very good.