During his rise as an eight-time Super Bowl winner, Bill Belichick often had some of his more memorable coaching battles with the Indianapolis Colts.
Little do NFL fans know, the New England Patriots head coach would’ve never been in the NFL if it weren’t for the Colts.
Tracing Back to Bill Belichick’s Time With the Colts
Long before leading the Pats to six rings, and even before he became the right hand man of Bill Parcells during the New York Giants’ first two Super Bowl wins, Belichick was given his first NFL opportunity by the franchise he’ll coach against on Sunday in Frankfurt, Germany.
And it was through a meeting arranged by Belichick’s father.
In a 2003 interview with ESPN, Belichick stated that his dad arranged a face-to-face meeting with then-Baltimore Colts head coach Ted Marchibroda. Belichick went on to become a “gopher hire” for the Colts.
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But, as the late head coach told ESPN: “He was willing to work ’round the clock for nothing and learn everything he could about the game.”
Turns out Belichick was making $25 per week to be a special assistant to Marchibroda.
Belichick’s Other Stops
A graduate of Annapolis High in Maryland, Belichick spent just one season with the nearby NFL franchise. He was also just 23 when his coaching career began. Since then, Belichick has ended up coaching for six different franchises.
- Detroit Lions: Started as a special teams assistant in 1976, eventually worked his way to wide receivers coach in 1977.
- Denver Broncos: Not only did he earn an assistant special teams coach job, but the Broncos helped give Belichick his first defensive coaching opportunity as a defensive assistant.
- New York Giants: The Big Apple was where Belichick would have his first longest coaching tenure. He began as special teams and defensive assistant in 1979. Then he was given his first position group to coach the linebackers from 1980-1984. Then, from 1985 to 1990, he ran the defense en route to two Vince Lombardi trophies.
- Cleveland Browns: His first head coaching opportunity came via “The Dawg Pound.” Belichick, though, went 36-44 overall with only one playoff appearance. He was fired in 1995 when it was announced the team would be moving to Baltimore.
Belichick would go on to have a brief stop with the Pats in 1996 before coaching the New York Jets’ defense from 1997 to 1999. He worked under Parcells at both places.
Now, he’s 24 seasons deep into his time in Foxboro. He’s the league’s longest-tenured current head coach with one franchise. If he manages six more seasons in the NFL, he’ll become the league’s first head coach to stay with the same franchise for 30 years.
But again, Belichick’s NFL journey would’ve never happened if it weren’t for that face-to-face meeting that led to a $25-per-week gig with the Colts.
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