The Belichicks have made their mark on pro-football history, and in a few days, their impact on college football will be coming to fruition. With Bill Belichick’s first game as the North Carolina Tar Heels’ head coach set for Monday against TCU, a new chapter in the family’s legendary gridiron legacy is about to begin.
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The former Patriots head coach is widely regarded as one of the greatest to ever coach in the NFL, leading the New England Patriots to six Super Bowls and nine appearances. He is a three-time AP NFL Coach of the Year, is on the NFL’s 100th Anniversary All-Time team and both the 2000s and 2010s all- decade team.
His deep knowledge of the game is a direct result of his father, Steve, a long-time college coach at Navy. He spent years at the college football level, and it’s where Bill was able to fall in love with the sport. The legendary head coach learned the ins and outs of the game by spending time around Steve and the Naval Academy.
Bill has since passed on his football logic to his two sons, Steve and Brian, who both have joined him in Chapel Hill on the Carolina coaching staff. Both have NFL coaching experience and could be following in the footsteps of their father as a future head coach in the league or at the college level.
Now, as he makes his highly anticipated return to coaching, the Belichick coaching tree is growing even larger. He’s bringing his winning mentality to Chapel Hill, and with it comes high expectations as the Tar Heels enter a new era.
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This is a deeper look at the Belichick family tree, a coaching dynasty that continues to shape the sport.
How many sons does Bill Belichick have?
Belichick has two sons — Steve and Brian. Both have been on a coaching staff with their father.
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Bill Belichick son: Steve Belichick
Steve is the oldest son of Bill Belichick. He joins his father on the North Carolina coaching staff, and is entering year one as the defensive coordinator.
Steve played lacrosse at Rutgers from 2008-11 and also played football his senior season. After graduating from Rutgers, Steve joined his dad on the Patriots coaching staff.
New England Patriots
Steve’s coaching career began in 2012 when he was hired as a coaching assistant for the New England Patriots, where his father was the head coach. He spent four seasons in that role before being promoted to safeties coach in 2016. In the following years, he took on new responsibilities, serving as the defensive backs coach in 2019 and the outside linebackers coach from 2020-2023. During his time in New England, he was part of three Super Bowl championship teams.
After Bill and the Patriots agreed to mutually part ways, Steve was hired by the University of Washington to take over as the defensive coordinator of the Huskies.
University of Washington
In 2024, Belichick became the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington. He had a successful lone season with the Huskies, transforming their defense into a top-26 unit after it had ranked 99th nationally the year before. However, his tenure in Seattle was short-lived.
University of North Carolina
In December 2024, just a few weeks after his father was hired as the head coach at North Carolina, Steve was named the Tar Heels’ defensive coordinator, bringing his defensive expertise to the family business once again
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Bill Belichick son: Brian Belichick
Brian is the youngest of Bill’s three children. He recently joined his father’s staff at North Carolina as the defensive backs and safeties coach.
He played college lacrosse at Trinity College, a Division III school in Hartford, Conn., before graduating in 2016.
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New England Patriots
Brian’s coaching career began in 2016 when he was hired as a scouting assistant for the New England Patriots, where he worked under his father. He transitioned to a coaching assistant role in 2017 before being promoted to safeties coach in 2020, a position he held for the next five seasons.
He was one of the few coaches to remain on the Patriots’ staff after his father’s departure, serving under new head coach Jerod Mayo in 2024. However, he ultimately chose to leave New England to join his father and brother at North Carolina in 2025, taking on the role of defensive backs/safeties coach.
University of North Carolina
With his brother leading the defense as a whole, Brian’s on-field responsibilities will be to fine-tune the secondary and get the best out of a unit that will need to be at its best in a new era of UNC football.
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Bill Belichick daughter: Amanda Belichick
Amanda is the oldest child of Belichick. Like her father, she attended Wesleyan University, where she graduated in 2007m where she was also a four-year letter-winner and senior captain on the lacrosse team.
Belichick began her coaching journey as an assistant at UMass. In 2011, she joined Ohio State’s lacrosse program as an assistant coach while also serving as recruiting coordinator and offensive coordinator. After three seasons with the Buckeyes, Amanda served as head coach at her alma mater, coaching the Cardinals in 2014 and 2015.
In 2016, Amanda was named head coach of the women’s lacrosse team at Holy Cross, a position that she still holds.
Belichick’s coaching career has been marked by success, with her teams earning strong academic recognition and achieving notable on-field milestones. In 2024, she was named the Patriot League Coach of the Year after guiding the Holy Cross team to a 12-win season and setting several single-season program records. She was also recently elected to the Intercollegiate Women’s Lacrosse Coaches Association (IWLCA) Board of Directors, a testament to her growing influence within the sport.
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Bill Belichick dad: Steve Belichick
Stephen “Steve” Belichick is the patriarch of the Belichick coaching family, a veteran player and scout whose career at the Naval Academy provided the foundation for his son Bill’s legendary career.
After a college career as a football player at Western Reserve University and a brief professional stint with the Detroit Lions, Steve served in the U.S. Navy during World War II.
Following his military service, he transitioned to coaching. He had was an assistant coach at Vanderbilt from 1949-1952 and the University of North Carolina from 1953-1956 before beginning his most impactful tenure at Navy.
Steve would go on to spend 34 years as an assistant coach and scout for the Navy Midshipmen. During this time, he became a pioneer in the field of football scouting, even writing a book on the subject, “Football Scouting Methods,” which became a widely used reference.
Bill would accompany his father to coaching clinics and scouting trips, learning the nuances of the game firsthand. The lessons Bill learned from his father’s meticulous scouting methods and attention to detail would go on to define his own coaching philosophy, directly shaping the iconic career that would follow.
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College coaching record
Steve Belichick spent three seasons as a head coach at the college level. While his tenure in the college game spanned over four decades, he was only in a head coaching role from 1946-48, all at Hiram.
With the Terriers, Belichick compiled a record of 8-12-2, posting a 5-3 winning record in his first season. However, Hiram managed just three total wins the next two seasons before Belichick left.
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Bill Belichick mom: Jeannette Belichick
Jeannette Belichick (née Munn) was the mother of Bill Belichick and a key figure in his personal and academic development, though she was not involved in football. She was a highly educated woman with a career as a teacher and translator.
After graduating from Hiram College in 1942, she worked for the Map Service in Washington, D.C., translating European maps for the military during World War II. In 1945, she returned to Hiram College to teach Spanish and French. It was there that she met and married Steve, the head coach of the football team.
Bill Belichick himself has spoken about her influence, noting that he got his love of learning and reading from her. To honor her legacy, Bill made a significant donation to Hiram College in 2015, which created the Jeannette Munn Belichick Reading Room and an endowed fund to support foreign language resources at the college library. She passed away in 2020 at the age of 98.
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Where is Bill Belichick from?
Bill Belichick was born in Nashville, Tenn, however, he was raised in Annapolis, Md.
Belichick spent his childhood around the United States Naval Academy, as his father was a coach for the football program for over 30 years. He graduated from Annapolis High School in 1970.
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