Getty Steve Belichick, the son of Bill Belichick (r)
Steve Belichick, Bill Belichick’s oldest son, is a member of the New England Patriots’ coaching staff, a former college lacrosse player, and the married father of a young daughter.
Stephen Belichick’s younger brother, Brian Belichick, has now joined the Belichick coaching squad for the team.
That means that three Belichicks are part of the coaching team as the Patriots take the field against the Los Angeles Rams for Super Bowl 2019. Bill Belichick’s sons and his daughter, Amanda, are all children of Bill Belichick and his ex-wife and high school sweetheart, Debby Belichick.
“My Dad is really unique and really smart,” Stephen, 31, told The Las Vegas Review-Journal in 2019. “I wish that I had more time to just watch him, but I have my own job. When I was younger and working his training camps, I was too stupid to pause and watch. Now, I’m too busy. Obviously, what he has done is really impressive. I’m sure there will be a time when he is done coaching that I can ask him about all of it.” He’s named after Bill Belichick’s father.
Here’s what you need to know:
1. Steve Has Coached for the Patriots for Six Years & Says He Has ‘Always Wanted to Be Around Football’
Jennifer and Stephen Belichick.
Steve Belichick has been a safeties coach for the Patriots for two years after spending four years as a coaching assistant.
The Patriots website says: “Steve Belichick enters his third season as safeties coach with the New England Patriots after five years as a coaching assistant. Under his guidance in 2017, the Patriots safeties were part of a defense that finished fifth in the NFL by allowing 18.5 points per game. Devin McCourty was also selected to his fourth career Pro Bowl under Belichick’s instruction and Duron armon led the defense with a career-high four interceptions.”
“There was a lot of talk over whether or not he would get into coaching one day,” said special teamer Matthew Slater to the Newbury Port News. “It’s been pretty neat to watch that progression and see him grow as a man and have a family and now coaching, but it was almost inevitable when you look back. Coaching is in his blood.”
He told WEEI that he couldn’t imagine doing anything else. “I have always wanted to be around football,” he said to the radio station. “I still to this day couldn’t see myself doing anything else. I think about that all the time, like what else could I do? I don’t know. I love football. I love it. I have always wanted to do it.”
Added Belichick to WEEI: “I have a lot of favorite parts. Studying the film, learning the game and just dealing with people. There are a lot of really cool people that I get to meet and interact with in the football world that I don’t think any other profession would provide me. I love the people and the personalities in football. It is great.”
Bill Belichick, coach of the New England Patriots, walks with his son Steve Belichick onto the field at the start of the New England Patriots Rookie Camp at Gillette Stadium on May 3, 2013 in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
So much for sibling rivalry. Brian Belichick, the youngest child of New England Patriots’ Coach Bill Belichick, now also holds a coaching position on the team, joining his older brother and father on the football field. That’s perfectly fine with Steve, who has praised his brother.
According to The Providence Journal, Brian Belichick has risen steadily through the ranks of pro football, and, this year, he was promoted “to coaching assistant where he worked with the defensive coaches.”
“I’m much a much better athlete than him so it’s no problem. But yeah, he is, he’s really smart,” Steve said to the Providence Journal. “He’s such an analytical thinker. He almost hurts himself because he’s an over thinker at times. He breaks it down so small, it’s so impressive. It’s really impressive to watch him and the stuff he comes up with. He’s really smart.”
NBC noted that Brian’s advancement within the Patriots organization means that there are now three Belichicks on the team’s coaching staff. “Brian shifted from the scouting side of things to the coaching side this offseason, officially bringing together all three Belichicks on the same coaching staff,” the network reported.
2. Steve Belichick Is the Oldest Son of Debby Belichick, Bill’s Ex-Wife
Good luck to scouting assistant Brian Belichick’11 and the entire @Patriots organization as they head to Super Bowl LI. #suffieldforlife
Steve Belichick is one of the three children that Bill Belichick had with his ex-wife and high school sweetheart, Debby. According to the Boston Globe, Debby and Bill Belichick met in high school. They have three children: Amanda, Stephen, and Brian. In 2007, The Boston Globe reported that Bill and his then-wife, Debby, had purchased “a $4.6 million lot” in Nantucket. Stephen is the oldest brother.
After her divorce, Debby, along with a female friend, opened The Art of Tile & Stone, “a new tile store in Wellesley that offers everything from design to installation of new stone,” reported The Boston Herald.
Bill Belichick’s net worth is reportedly about $35 million, but the family has not been without its share of turmoil. The Belichick marriage deteriorated into scandal. According to Boston.com, “the husband of a former New York Giants receptionist alleged in a divorce case that his wife had been involved for several years with Belichick and had received hundreds of thousands of dollars of support from him. Belichick never publicly addressed the matter, which was resolved without him appearing in court.” Bill Belichick currently has a long-time girlfriend named Linda Holliday.
3. Stephen Belichick Played Lacrosse in College & Is Married to Wife Jennifer
Jennifer and Steve Belichick.
All of the Belichick children are involved in athletics. Stephen Belichick was a lacrosse player in college who played against Patriots’ wide receiver Chris Hogan.
The Patriots website explains, “After playing four years of lacrosse at Rutgers, Belichick walked on to the football team as a long snapper to help in preparations for a career in coaching. He was a three-year starter at linebacker, tight end and fullback as well as a long snapper at The Rivers School in Weston, Mass., before heading to Rutgers.”
“I saw a couple of his (Hogan’s) games when he played against Rutgers when he played against Stephen,” Bill Belichick said, according to The Post Game. “Stephen actually covered him. One of those was a downpour, one of the worst I’ve ever seen. The game actually had to be stopped.”
Steve Belichick is married to wife, Jennifer. In 2017, the couple had a child, daughter Blakely Rose Belichick. According to NBC Sports, Jennifer Belichick also “attended Rutgers and played lacrosse.” According to the Boston Herald, the couple married in 2017 at the Siasconset Union Chapel, with the former Jennifer Schmitt wearing a “couture original by Boston designer David Josef.”
You can see the couple’s registry here. Bill Belichick was ecstatic about his new granddaughter. “We have a roster addition to announce this morning, a little different that the usual one, with the emphasis on little,” Belichick said to reporters. “We can add newborn Blakely Rose to the depth chart. She was born this morning to my son Steve and the real MVP Jen, so this this is a happy and exciting day for all of us and with that we’ll move onto the Steelers.”
“I know what I want to do,” Stephen Belichick told NBC. “This [coaching] is what I want to do. But it’s not all about me. I have a daughter now which has changed my life. I can’t be selfish and just worry about myself.”
4. Bill Belichick Says It’s Been Great to ‘Experience Things’ With His Sons Steve & Brian
Stephen Belichick, son of New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick, looks on before the game against the Houston Texans at Gillette Stadium on September 22, 2016. (Getty)
Bill Belichick has spoken with emotion about how much he enjoys having both of his sons Steve and Brian at his side when he coaches the Patriots.
“It’s been a great experience to be able to come in every day and just experience things with them,” Bill Belichick said at Super Bowl Opening Night. “You experience them with other people on your staff, too, but it’s great to have your kids involved. I think it’s been good for all of us.”
There can be a downside to fame, though. Stephen Belichick has discussed how hard the media attention can be on his family overall.
“I don’t know if anyone will understand what those headlines in newspapers really do to families,” Stephen Belichick has said. “It’s hard, obviously, everyone in the NFL signs up for these jobs and understands the pressures. But some things are more necessary than others…One thing I’ve learned from my dad is we don’t do it for the media, we do it because we love it. We don’t it for the press conferences, which is maybe why other coaches do it…We’ve been labeled every word in the book our whole lives; what’s another [insult] on the list?”
5. Bill Belichick & His Sons Have a Pregame Tradition
FacebookJennifer and Steve Belichick.
Bill Belichick and his boys have a pre-game tradition that they try to honor. “The trio also have a pre-game tradition of checking out the field conditions prior to kick-off at visiting stadiums,” reports Boston.com.
ESPN reported that the ritual starts “Shortly after Belichick arrives at a visiting stadium,” explaining that “Steve Belichick, Bill’s oldest son, who is finishing his fifth year on staff and first as safeties coach, is always by his side. Sometimes Brian Belichick, Bill’s youngest son, in his first season as a full-time personnel assistant, joins them,” ESPN reported.
Bill told The Las Vegas Review-Journal: “It’s been a great experience to be able to come in every day and just experience things with them. You experience them with other people on your staff, too, but it’s great to have your kids involved. I think it’s been good for all of us.”
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Steve Belichick, Bill Belichick’s Son: 5 Fast Facts