Belichick was the Jets’ assistant head coach from 1997-99, and he was lined up to succeed Bill Parcells when the legendary coach was ready to step down. That happened in January 2000, but Belichick quickly and surprisingly resigned before taking over in New England.
Belichick famously resigned from the Jets by jotting a note on a piece of paper before a news conference that caught everyone off guard. Obviously, the decision has worked out well for Belichick, who has won three Super Bowls in New England.
“At that point in time, that situation, I did what I felt like I needed to do, and I don’t have any regrets about that,” Belichick said Friday. “Certainly, a lot of things could have been handled differently or whatever, but it doesn’t matter now.”
After those events, there was a falling out between Belichick and Parcells, which has been resolved in recent years, and Belichick’s feelings toward the Jets have always been portrayed on the negative side.
Now, in Belichick’s bio in the Patriots’ media guide, there are subsections dedicated to his time with the Giants (one paragraph) and Browns (three paragraphs), but there’s no section dedicated to his tenure with the Jets.
“It wasn’t a great situation all the way around with [Parcells] resigning the day before and me resigning the day after that and all that,” Belichick said. “That’s all water under the bridge.”
