NFL
Bill Belichick’s Sons Serve an Important—and Personal— Role on the Patriots’ Coaching Staff
Joe Kozlowski began his career as a sports journalist in 2013 and joined Sportscasting in 2019. He covers the NBA and soccer for Sportscasting, with specialties in legacy NBA players such as Michael Jordan and Premier League club Arsenal. Off the clock, he's a Kansas City Chiefs fan and a hockey goalie. Growing up loving Shaquille O'Neal and reading everything he could about the great big men throughout NBA history — likely because he was still tall enough, at least relative to his peers, to play center — he's continued to love learning about and exploring the historical and story-based sides of the basketball archives. As for Arsenal, Joe spent a year living in London and latched onto the local support of the club. He's barely missed a match since, loving Arsene Wenger, enduring the Banter Era, and following along through rebuilds. The Premier League interest developed into a passionate following of the Champions League, Europe's big five league, and international soccer as a whole when played at the highest level. Regardless of the sport, Joe is captivated by the stories of athletes beyond the box scores and how they push the envelope — both in terms of what we think a human is capable of accomplishing and how they find new competitive tactics to win.
Get to know Joe Kozlowski betterPublished10 Dec 2020
Even if you can’t stand him and his cut-off hoodies, it’s impossible to question Bill Belichick’s football mind. During his time with the New England Patriots, the head coach has created one of the NFL great dynasties; he’s also created a sizable, if somewhat unsuccessful, coaching tree that now includes his two sons.
Steve and Brian Belichick aren’t simply riding on their father’s coattails and collecting a nice paycheck, though. In fact, they have a pretty important role on the New England Patriots’ coaching staff.
Bill Belichick has become one of the NFL’s top coaching minds
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These days, it’s almost impossible to think of Bill Belichick as anything other than the successful leader of the New England Patriots dynasty. That reputation, though, didn’t always proceed him.
Belichick’s coaching career started with the Baltimore Colts, where he worked as an ‘apprentice.’ He then took jobs with the Detroit Lions and Denver Broncos, slowly working his way up the ladder.
After making a name for himself with the New York Giants—he rose through the ranks to become Big Blue’s defensive coordinator and earned two Super Bowl rings in the Big Apple—Belichick got his big break and took over as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Success, however, was hard to come by; before long, he was back to being an assistant.
In 2000, Belichick got another chance at the top job and took over as the head coach of the New England Patriots; from there, the rest is history.
Steve and Brian Belichick both serve on their father’s staff
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Bill Belichick isn’t the only member of his family in the coaching business, though. His sons, Steve and Brian, are also members of the New England Patriots’ staff.
According to the Patriots’ official website, Steve Belichick is the team’s outside linebackers coach; his brother, Brian, takes charge of the safeties. While the two men have surely picked up plenty of wisdom from their famous father, have nine and five years of experience, respectively.
Earlier this year, Bill Belichick also revealed that Steve had been calling defensive plays for the team; that role as de facto defensive coordinator has led some to wonder if the linebackers coach is the heir apparent to his father’s job.
Bill Belichick’s sons also have an additional responsibility on the New England Patriots staff
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As their formally-defined roles indicate, Steve and Brian Belichick aren’t simply riding on their father’s coattails and collecting a paycheck. According to Bill, though, his two sons also have an important duty that wasn’t part of their official job description.
“I feel like I’m very fortunate to have the coaching staff that we have here and I learn a lot from those guys,” Belichick recently explained on WEEI, according to Nick Goss of NBC Sports. “They help me in a lot of different ways. Sometimes they see things from a perspective that I don’t really see. I try to listen and take input from everybody, get their views, and then make the best decision I can for the team.”
His sons, however, help him make decisions in a specific way; since they’re family, Brian and Steve have no problem letting Bill know when he dropped the ball.
“One of the good things about Stephen and Brian is that they aren’t afraid to tell me when they think I’ve screwed something up — which is fairly regularly,” the coach continued.
Owning up to one’s mistakes is never easy. Maybe having someone to hold him accountable, whether the responsibility falls to his sons or not, is one of the keys to Bill Belichick’s success. Given his track record, who can really question his methods?
