Bill Belichick’s kids, Amanda, Stephen, and Brian, have succeeded as sports coaches, carrying their father’s legacy.
American football coach William Stephen Belichick was born in Nashville, Tennessee, U.S., on April 16, 1952.
He is currently the head football coach at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Bill holds numerous coaching records, including the record for most Super Bowl wins (six) as a head coach, all with the New England Patriots. Similarly, he won two more as the defensive coordinator of the New York Giants.
He has a record of eight combined Super Bowl victories as coach and coordinator.
Belichick, a notable American football historian, has been dubbed a “student of the game” who is well-versed in the nuances of every player position.
The UNC Coach Bill Belichick And His Ex-Wife, Debby, Had Three Kids Together!
Bill Belichick’s first love was his ex-wife, Debby Clarke. The childhood sweethearts married in 1977, while Belichick began his coaching career. Belichick and Clarke welcomed three children: daughter Amanda and sons Stephen and Brian.
Although Clarke spent most of Belichick’s coaching career with him, the couple ended their marriage in 2006 after over thirty years of togetherness.
After splitting with Clarke, the North Carolina Tar Heels football head coach moved on to the next relationship.
While exact details about their split remain ambiguous, some sources claim the head coach’s infidelity could be a possible reason.
Tragically, Debby, a mother, educator, and philanthropist, passed away on July 7, 2021, at the age of 78.
Even though Bill and his ex-wife, Debby, do not share the love they had, they do share three equally talented and accomplished children.
Bill Belichick’s Daughter Is The Head Coach Of The Women’s Lacrosse Team At The College Of The Holy Cross
Like her father, Bill Belichick, Amanda Belichick is a sports coach. Born in 1984, she is his eldest child and only daughter.
She graduated from Wesleyan University with a bachelor’s in art and history in May 2007.
She began her coaching career in 2008 after graduating from college. At Choate Rosemary Hall, a school in Wallingford, Connecticut, she initially served as head varsity girls’ lacrosse coach.
Amanda also accepted a position as an assistant coach at UMass in 2010.
Moreover, she became an assistant coach for Ohio State’s lacrosse program in 2011.
Then, she became a lacrosse coach at her alma mater. Eventually, in 2015, Amanda became the head coach of the women’s lacrosse team at the College of the Holy Cross.
She considers her father ‘a wonderful mentor‘ for her. While initially, she had no plans of becoming a sports coach, somehow, she turned into one.
“The fact that she is in coaching creates a pretty interesting and special dynamic for us. We’ll be together, just catching up and then the next thing we know we’re talking about our teams, our players, how to handle a variety of situations. So one minute it’s father-daughter and the next minute it’s just two coaches doing what any two coaches would do. Learn from each other, try to get better and continue meeting our daily challenges in competition.”
Bill Belichick
Furthermore, Amanda believes that growing up in a sports-rich environment influenced her decision to pursue this career path.
Her passion and dedication to sports and coaching are evident in how she describes her coaching approach.
“as a smart player as opposed to a raw athlete. growing up around sports and having that as a part of my life, I developed a skill and game sense that were kind of X factors and what I did well as a player. And as a coach, I think my vision and creativity, and being able to dissect defenses and create plans, are what I’d consider my strengths.”
Amanda Belichick
Proud daughter day! 🩵 https://t.co/t0RU4NKjkm
— Amanda Belichick (@amandabelichick) December 12, 2024
While following her pursuit, Amanda met her husband, AJ DeSantis, online in 2014.
The pair eventually married in 2017 in Rhode Island. At her wedding, Bill led his daughter down the aisle.
Amanda and AJ have two children together. Moreover, she posted “Proud daughter day!” on X in response to the announcement that Bill will be coaching UNC.
Bill Belichick’s Sons Are Equally Competent And Accomplished In Their Coaching Career!
Stephen Steve is Bill Belichick’s elder son and second child. When Bill was the defensive coordinator for the New York Giants in 1987, he won his first Super Bowl.
He was born just two months after his father’s glorious victory. Moreover, he studied at Rutgers University, where he played lacrosse for four years.
He began working as a coaching assistant with the New England Patriots in 2012 and ultimately rose to the position of safety coach in 2016.
“It’s special to be able to come in every day and see him. There were certainly a lot of days I wasn’t there when they were at school. I was doing my thing and they were doing theirs, so it’s great to be able to see him every day.”
Bill Belichick
However, in 2020, Steve switched to coach the outside linebackers.
Steve regarded working for his father as ‘cool.’ Given that both Amanda and Steve have good things to say about their adored father, this indicates that Bill and his kids get along well.
“Obviously, I love my dad. He’s my role model. He’s my idol. I want to be just like him. I have since I knew what an idol was. It’s rewarding for me to, I guess, see him more and learn from him more, because I’ve been away from him in high school and college on a day-to-day basis.”
Stephen Steve Belichick
Furthermore, he has a wonderful married life with his wife, Jennifer. The couple share four children: Blakely, Hayes, Quincy, and Rocco.
Following the birth of his first grandchild, Blakely, in October 2016, Bill expressed immense joy in being a grandfather for the first time.
The youngest of Bill’s children is Brian Belichick. He earned his anthropology degree from Trinity College and played for the Bantam lacrosse team.
Since the youngest member of the family also sought a career in coaching, the Belichicks’ love of sports and skill as coaches are inherited.
After being promoted to coaching assistant, Brian joined his elder brother Steve on the coaching staff the following year.
Similarly, Brian is also a married man. He tied the knot with Catherine “Callie” McLaughlin in June 2021 in Nantucket.
Moreover, Bill has frequently expressed his admiration for his sons. He truly seems proud of all of his three children.
“They have been around a lot of football. They have seen a lot of football. They have seen things done from a different perspective than other people, but in the end I don’t know anybody that knows our football program better than Stephen, who has been in it a little bit longer, but Brian as well, have just lived their whole life with this program. All the things that we do for all the different reasons and how it all ties together and so forth.”
Bill Belichick
The fact that Brian, Amanda, and Stephen all picked careers that are similar to their father’s demonstrates how much they admire and value him. Moreover, Bill is his children’s role model.
In Case You Didn’t Know
- Bill Belichick‘s father, Steve Belichick, was a former football player and head coach.
- Belichick has dual Croatian/American citizenship. He obtained Croatian citizenship on June 3, 2024, in Banski dvori, Zagreb, from the Croatian prime minister Andrej Plenković.
- He is dating a 24-year-old former cheerleader, Jordan Hudson. They have a 48-year age gap.
