By Jordan Long
The New England Patriots stand at 1-5, last in the AFC East Division. They face the Buffalo Bills this Sunday. This looks like another long season for the Patriots. It may be time for Head Coach Bill Belichick to retire from coaching at the end of the year.
Belichick has been one of the most successful coaches in NFL history. He started his head coaching career with the Cleveland Browns from 1991 to 1995. It didn’t go so well. The Browns went 36-44 earning a playoff spot once, 1994. They were beaten by the Pittsburgh Steelers in the Divisional Round. Cleveland fired him following a 5-11 record in 1995.
Belichick spent 1997 to 1999 as the defensive coordinator for the New York Jets under Bill Parcells. The Jets went to the playoffs once, 1998, but were beaten by the Denver Broncos in the AFC Championship Game. New England needed a new head coach after firing Pete Carroll after three years. Carroll coached New England to a 27-21 record. New England even went to the playoffs twice, in 1997 and 1998 but he couldn’t advance them past the Divisional Round. New England hoped for better results with Belichick.
Belichick turned New England into one of the best franchises in the NFL. He has managed to coach them to a record of 263-113, a winning percentage of .699. The Patriots have gone to the playoffs 18 times. His teams advanced to the Super Bowl 9 times. New England won the Super Bowl with him 6 times.
Going into this year, New England was anticipating better results than last season. They finished 8-9, barely missing the playoffs. This season, they are 1-5 and are looking like they will draft in the top 10.
According to CBSsports.com, Tedy Bruschi said, “What do I personally feel [about] how this should go, and how this should end with Bill Belichick? This is just my personal feeling on what should happen. I want him to coach his ass off this season and get six, seven wins, all right? Have them playing respectable by the end of the season, and walk away. That’s what I want my former coach to do. Don’t — Shula doesn’t matter. You’ve got multiple Super Bowls over Shula. You’re a better coach.”
Belichick will last the year. Once it is over, he must think about his future. Belichick has done enough at the NFL level, winning 6 Super Bowls as Head Coach. His total regular season wins stands at 299. Belichick has the most victories in the postseason at 31. Belichick’s place in Canton, Ohio is already sealed. He will be there once he walks away. It just seems like the end is coming for Belichick and it should be at the end of the year.
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