Stephen C. Belichick (born March 25, 1987) is an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team wi ...

coach who is the current outside linebackers coach for the New England Patriots of the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

(NFL). He formerly was the team's

safeties Safety is the condition of being protected against harmful conditions or events, or the control of hazards to reduce risk. Safety may also refer to: Places * Safety Island, Antarctica Government * The Internet Stopping Adults Facilitating t ...

coach and worked as a defensive assistant since he began coaching in .

Early years

Belichick played

lacrosse Lacrosse is a team sport played with a lacrosse stick and a lacrosse ball. It is the oldest organized sport in North America, with its origins with the indigenous people of North America as early as the 12th century. The game was extensiv ...

at The Rivers School in

Weston, Massachusetts Weston is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, about 15 miles west of Boston. At the time of the 2020 United States Census, the population of Weston was 11,851. Weston was incorporated in 1713, and protection of the town's historic resourc ...

, and was an All-League Honorable Mention selection in his senior year. He then attended

Rutgers University Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was ...

where he continued to play lacrosse as a

defenseman Defence or defense (in American English) in ice hockey is a player position that is primarily responsible for preventing the opposing team from scoring. They are often referred to as defencemen, D, D-men or blueliners (the latter a reference to ...

and long-stick midfielder (LSM) from 2008 through 2011. He also played for

Rutgers Football Rutgers University (; RU), officially Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, is a public land-grant research university consisting of four campuses in New Jersey. Chartered in 1766, Rutgers was originally called Queen's College, and was a ...

under coach

Greg Schiano Gregory Edward Schiano (born June 1, 1966) is an American football coach. He is the head football coach at Rutgers University, a position he held from 2001 to 2011 and resumed before the 2020 season. Schiano served as the head coach for the Tampa ...

in 2011 as a long snapper.

Coaching career

New England Patriots

On May 10, 2012, Belichick was hired by the New England Patriots as a coaching assistant, a position in which he would serve for four seasons before being named safeties coach prior to the start of the 2016 season. On February 5, 2017, Belichick was part of the Patriots coaching staff that won

Super Bowl LI Super Bowl LI was an American football game played at NRG Stadium in Houston, Texas, on February 5, 2017, to determine the champion of the National Football League (NFL) for the 2016 season. The American Football Conference (AFC) champion New ...

. In the game, the Patriots defeated the Atlanta Falcons by a score of 34–28 in overtime. For the 2019 season, after long-time assistant

Brian Flores Brian Francisco Flores (born February 24, 1981) is an American football coach who is the defensive coordinator for the Minnesota Vikings of the National Football League (NFL). He began his NFL career with the New England Patriots, where he serve ...

left to become the new head coach of the

Miami Dolphins The Miami Dolphins are a professional American football team based in the Miami metropolitan area. They compete in the National Football League (NFL) as a member team of the league's American Football Conference (AFC) East division. The team p ...

, Belichick assumed defensive play calling duties previously held by Flores while also operating as the team's secondary coach. On July 28, 2020 it was announced that Belichick would move from safeties coach to outside linebackers coach, with his brother

Brian Brian (sometimes spelled Bryan in English) is a male given name of Irish and Breton origin, as well as a surname of Occitan origin. It is common in the English-speaking world. It is possible that the name is derived from an Old Celtic word me ...

taking over at safeties.

Personal life

Belichick is the son of current New England Patriots head coach

Bill Belichick William Stephen Belichick (; born April 16, 1952) is an American professional football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Additionally, he exercises extensive authority over the Patri ...

, and the grandson of

Steve Belichick Stephen Nickolas Belichick (January 7, 1919 – November 19, 2005) was an American football player, coach, and scout. He played college football at Western Reserve University, now known as Case Western Reserve University, from 1938 to 1940 and ...

. His younger brother, Brian Belichick, also works in the New England Patriots organization, currently serving as the team's safeties coach.

References

External links

New England Patriots profile
1987 births Living people People from Ridgewood, New Jersey Sportspeople from Bergen County, New Jersey People from Weston, Massachusetts Sportspeople from Middlesex County, Massachusetts Rutgers Scarlet Knights men's lacrosse players Rutgers University alumni New England Patriots coaches Rutgers Scarlet Knights football players Coaches of American football from Massachusetts Belichick family Rivers School alumni {{Massachusetts-sport-stub