The New England Patriots and head coach Bill Belichick have parted ways, ending an era that started 24 years and six Super Bowl championships ago.
Long before he became the man whom Patriots’ owner Robert Kraft called “the greatest coach of all time,” Belichick was a college student in Connecticut, where he has also built a solid and positive reputation. It is one of a smart student-athlete who built relationships that remain strong nearly 50 years later.
Belichick went to Wesleyan University in Middletown and the 1975 graduate played football, lacrosse and squash.
Wesleyan athletic director and alum Mike Whalen called Belichick one of the pillars of the university and said something special about him is that he always remembers his roots.
“He's still very, very close with many of his classmates from Wesleyan. They've gone to many of the Super Bowls with him,” Whalen said.
Whalen said he can’t say enough about everything that Belichick has done for Wesleyan.
Belichick is also extremely smart and that translates on and off the field, Whalen said.
He thinks one of the things that interested Patriots owner Bob Kraft was that Belichick was an economics major at Wesleyan, giving him a skill needed with the NFL salary cap.
“Professor Dick Miller, you know, a longtime chair, economics professor at Wesleyan University, has said on numerous occasions that in his 30-plus years of teaching economics at Wesleyan that Bill Belichick was one of his best students he's ever had,” Whalen said.
Whalen also said that Belichick is very different in person than he is when he is in game mode.
“I’ve been able to be with him in social settings. I’ve been able to be with him at practice. I’ve been able to do a lot of things that a lot of other people haven’t been able to do and I’ve just seen a different side of him and he’s a really caring person,” Whalen said. “Loyalty is the keyword that really comes to mind when I think of coach.”
