Stephen Nickolas Belichick (January 7, 1919 – November 19, 2005) was an American football assistant coach and scout.

[edit] Playing career

Belichick attended Western Reserve University, where he played at fullback, scoring several touchdowns for the team in his senior season in 1940.^[1] After graduation, he worked as an equipment manager for the Detroit Lions. The team was struggling, and Belichick reportedly told the coach, Bill Edwards, "I can do better than most of the guys you've got."^[2] Edwards, who had coached Belichick at Western Reserve, agreed, and signed him as a player. Though the team's fortunes did not improve, Belichick had some success, scoring a touchdown in a loss against the New York Giants.^[2]

[edit] Coaching career

In 1942, Belichick joined the United States Navy, serving in both Europe and the Pacific.^[3] He returned to football when he completed his service, becoming the head coach at Hiram College. In 1949 he left Hiram to become the backfield coach at Vanderbilt University,^[4] where he spent two seasons before joining the University of North Carolina as an assistant to George Barclay in 1953.^[5] In 1956 Belichick joined the United States Naval Academy, where he served, primarily as a scout, for over 30 years. His book Football Scouting Methods (Ronald Press, 1962) became a standard, described by Charley Casserly as the best book on the subject he had read.^[3]

[edit] Family

Belichick's son Bill Belichick is currently the head coach of the New England Patriots. The younger Belichick has cited his father, with whom he began analyzing game film at the age of 10, as his chief early influence.^[6]

[edit] References

This biographical article relating to a college football coach is a stub. You can help Wikipedia by expanding it. v • d • e