Bill Belichick leaving Patriots after 24 seasons, sources say

Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots are set to part ways Thursday after a remarkable 24 seasons together, ending an unmatched run in NFL history that included six Super Bowl titles, league sources told ESPN.

Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft spent much of this week meeting periodically and discussing how each side wanted to proceed. According to sources close to these conversations, there were no conflicts, no disagreements and, ultimately, productive talks resulted in a mutual decision that left both parties comfortable and at ease. 'easy.

Belichick and Kraft, as one third noted, “took the high road,” which was fitting for an owner-coach tandem that will go down as one of the greatest and most decorated in NFL history.

Belichick, who had one year remaining on his contract, will be allowed to leave the team without the Patriots seeking compensation. He will want to continue coaching and is expected to draw interest from at least some of the seven other NFL teams that have head coaching vacancies, most likely the Atlanta Falcons, league sources said.

The Patriots will now embark on their first head coaching search in a quarter-century. Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo, whom the team signed to a contract extension during the offseason and whom Kraft identified as a promising head coaching candidate, projects to be one, if not the leading candidate for the job, sources said. 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 his close friend Nick Saban retired from Alabama.

There is a symmetry and similarity in the departures of two football legends – men widely considered the greatest coach in professional history and the greatest coach in college football history. Belichick helped the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances and six Super Bowl titles; Saban led Alabama to nine SEC titles and six national championships.

Additionally, Saban succeeded Pete Carroll as Ohio State's secondary coach in 1980; when Belichick was head coach in Cleveland, he worked with Saban from 1991 to 1994; and Belichick replaced Carroll as Patriots head coach in 2000, decades before all three left their longtime jobs this week in a 24-hour period.

The fact that Belichick and Kraft are going their own way carries an element of sadness, but not surprise. Kraft had stressed how important it was for the Patriots to make the playoffs this season. Instead, they were one of the first teams eliminated, on December 10.

Speculation about Belichick's future has swirled during the 2023 season, with one of the team's lowest points coming on November 12 in a 10-6 loss to the Indianapolis Colts in Frankfurt, Germany.

Before that game, reflecting on last season, Kraft, 82, told NFL Network: “It's been really disappointing. I had hoped things would get a lot better, like I know our fans did. .. It’s not what we expected this year.”

Another key factor for Kraft was the franchise's trajectory since the departure of quarterback Tom Brady as a free agent following the 2019 season. Since the loss of Brady, which pained Kraft, the Patriots have posted record losses in three of their four seasons, and their last playoff victory was a 13-3 triumph over the Los Angeles Rams in Super Bowl LIII on February 3, 2019 – when Brady was still with the team.

Belichick, 71, leaves New England with 333 career wins (including playoffs), ranking second all-time behind Don Shula and his 347. Belichick, George Halas and Curly Lambeau are the only coaches in the NFL to have won six championships since the league began the playoffs in 1933.

Belichick's tenure, which lasted 24 years, was the fifth longest of any head coach with a single team. He completed his 49th consecutive season in the NFL in 2023, the most consecutive coaching season in league history.

He is now looking to spend season No. 50 with another NFL franchise.

Belichick's resume also includes these notes that should persist for the foreseeable future:

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

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

• 12 Super Bowl appearances (including his time as an assistant).

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

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

The Patriots have scheduled a press conference with Belichick and Kraft on Thursday at noon ET, and it will mark the end of a remarkable era in Patriots and football history.