He is now free to join another NFL franchise as its next head coach.
“I look forward to coming back here,” Belichick said, adding, “I’ll always have those great memories. I’ll carry those with me the rest of my life.”
Maddie Meyer/Getty
Afterwards,Patriots owner Robert Krafttold reporters that Thursday was “a very emotional day for me.”
“What Bill accomplished, in my opinion, will never be duplicated,” Kraft said.
Bill Belichick.Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty
Nancy Lane/MediaNews Group/Boston Herald via Getty
Kraft said Belichick’s departure “represents the end of an era” for the Patriots. “One that will hopefully always be celebrated in this region,” the team’s owner said.
The Patriots and Belichick breakup became official Thursday morning, when the team announced it had “mutually agreed to part ways” with its former head coach.
Kraft hadtoldESPN last week that he was “really disappointed” in the Patriots 2023 season.“I had hoped things would be a lot better,” the owner said after the team concluded a 4-13 season, the worst record in the AFC Conference.
Bill Belichick.Simon Bruty /Sports Illustrated via Getty
Simon Bruty /Sports Illustrated via Getty
Belichick began his coaching career in 1975 and went on to hold a number of assistant coaching roles for the Baltimore Colts, Detroit Lions, Denver Broncos, and the New York Giants before taking over as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns in 1991.
He first joined the Patriots in 1996 as an assistant to then-head coach Bill Parcells before leaving the franchise to become the New York Jets head coach in 1997. Belichick would later return to New England in 2000, where he remained the team’s head coach throughout the team’s dynasty in the 2000s.
Belichick’s departure comes nearly four years after quarterbackTom Bradyleft the team and joined the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, where he won one more Super Bowl title in 2021.
Never miss a story — sign up forPEOPLE’s free daily newsletterto stay up-to-date on the best of what PEOPLE has to offer, from celebrity news to compelling human interest stories.
Kraft said Thursday that he always had high expectations for Belichick and the team throughout the coach’s career with the franchise.
“It’s safe to say we exceeded them,” Kraft said.
source: people.com
