Who knew Jan. 27, 2000 would be a game-changer in New England?
On this day 20 years ago, the Patriots officially named Bill Belichick as their head coach after acquiring him in a trade with the Jets that would change the NFL for the next two decades. The move came after Belichick abruptly (and famously) resigned as the head coach in New York.
20 years ago today: the greatest trade in NFL history. pic.twitter.com/izcPs4h0GV
— New England Patriots (@Patriots) January 27, 2020
The head coach decided to stick with a young Tom Brady over Drew Bledsoe after the QB was knocked out of a Week 2 game against the Jets in 2001. And as controversial as that decision may have seemed then, it’s probably safe to assume that no one could have predicted what was coming next.
Over his 20-year tenure, Belichick helped has helped make a lot of NFL history. Check out some of these stats from ESPN’s Field Yates:
20 years ago today, the Patriots hired Bill Belichick. He’s led them to:
* 6 Super Bowl wins
* 267 total wins (51 more than any other coach) and a .740 winning percentage
* 17 division titlesThe rest of the NFL has employed 192 head coaches combined since his hiring.
— Field Yates (@FieldYates) January 27, 2020
He also has the record for most consecutive division titles with 11.
And all with Brady as his quarterback. (Minus 2008 when he missed the entire season with an ACL injury suffered in Week 1).
Some other accomplishments of Belichick’s include having a winning season in 19 straight seasons, has 13 12-win seasons (an NFL record), per ESPN’s Mike Reiss.
And now Belichick will look to continue that dominance in 2020. But it remains to be seen whether Brady will be under center, as the QB can become a free agent in March for the first time in his 20-year career. But whatever happens, we’re sure Belichick will have a way to continue to dominance in the NFL.
