Patriots 2009 Coaching Staff

The 2009 New England Patriots are favored by most to win the Superbowl. Bill Belichick is the best coach in the NFL and has led the Patriots to three super bowl championships. This year with the absence of Offensive Coordinator Josh McDaniels the Patriots have changes to their coaching staff. Take a look at this team's staff.

Head Coach: Bill Belichick

Head Coach: Bill Belichick
Career Record - 153-90

Bill Belichick is the only head coach in NFL history to win three Super Bowl championships in a four-year span. In 2007, he became the first NFL head coach to lead his team to a 16-0 regular season.

In his nine seasons in New England, Belichick doesn’t just have three Super Bowl championships, but he has also delivered four conference titles, six AFC East division crowns and 14 playoff victories. Belichick directed the Patriots to victories in Super Bowls XXXVI (2001), XXXVIII (2003) and XXXIX (2004), and claimed the 2007 AFC Championship. New England's 14 playoff victories in the 2000s are tied for the highest total in any decade in NFL history.

Belichick has led the Patriots to nine or more victories in each of the last eight seasons, making the Patriots the only NFL franchise to accomplish that feat from 2001-08.

In 2007, Bellichick was named NFL Coach of the Year as the Patriots became the fourth team in the league's 88-year history to complete an undefeated regular season and the first to achieve the feat since the NFL increased the number of regular-season games to 16 in 1978. In 2007 New England also became the first team in NFL history and the first major American pro sports team since 1884 to open a season with 18 straight wins. The Patriots set all-time NFL records for points scored (589), and touchdowns in addition to numerous individual and team records.

Belichick owns a career playoff record of 15-4, with his .789 playoff winning percentage placing second in NFL history behind only the legendary Vince Lombardi (9-1, .900). Belichick's 15 career playoff wins rank fifth all-time.

Belichick began his coaching career after graduating from Wesleyan University and accepting a staff assistant position with the Baltimore Colts in 1975. He was named special assistant to Head Coach Ted Marchibroda at the age of 23. In 1976, Belichick joined the Detroit Lions as an assistant special teams coach. The following year, he was given his first positional coaching assignment as the Lions' tight ends and receivers coach. In 1978, Belichick was hired by the Denver Broncos as the assistant special teams coach and assistant to defensive coordinator Joe Collier.

In 1979, Belichick joined the New York Giants as a defensive assistant and special teams coach, launching a 12-year tenure with the Giants. In 1983, he began coordinating the defense on Bill Parcells' staff and continued coaching the linebackers, a tenacious unit that would become known as one of the most dominant groups of all-time, featuring Pro Football Hall of Famers Lawrence Taylor and Harry Carson.

Belichick was officially named defensive coordinator in 1985, a position he held for six seasons. During his time as the Giants' defensive coordinator, he helped lead the Giants to two Super Bowls in 1986 and 1990. His contributions with the Giants throughout the 1980s brought him national recognition as he was later given a head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns.

Prior to joining the Patriots, Belichick spent five seasons (1991-95) rebuilding the Cleveland Browns. By 1994, the Browns were one of NFL's best teams, and had the second-best record in the AFC. Belichick led Cleveland to an 11-5 record in 1994, a mark that is still tied for the second highest victory total in the 59- year history of the Browns franchise.

Eight former assistant coaches on Coach Belichick's staffs in Cleveland or New England have gone on to become head coaches at the NFL or collegiate level. Three NFL head coaches worked on Belichick staffs including former Cleveland coach Romeo Crennel, Denver Broncos coach Josh McDaniels, and Cleveland’s newly hired coach Eric Mangini. Additionally Notre Dame's Charlie Weis, Alabama's Nick Saban, Iowa's Kirk Ferentz, Fresno State's Pat Hill and Virginia's Al Groh all worked under Belichick.

Dean Pees: Defensive Coordinator

Dean Pees: Defensive Coordinator

Dean Pees is a 36-year coaching veteran and was named the defensive coordinator on Bill Belichick's staff on January 17, 2006. Before being named defensive coordinator, he served as the Patriots' linebackers coach from 2004-05.
His coaching credentials include six seasons as a collegiate head coach with Kent State and 15 seasons as a defensive coordinator at the college level with the University of Michigan and Notre Dame.
In 2007, Pees' defense contributed to the first 16-0 regular season in NFL history.

In his first season as defensive coordinator in 2006, Pees' defense set a franchise record for fewest points allowed per game, giving up an average of just 14.81 points per opponent as the Patriots finished 12-4 and at the top of the AFC East.

Pees joined Bill Belichick's staff prior to the 2004 season after a tenure as the head coach at Kent State. Pees was hired as the head coach at Kent State on December 17, 1997, faced with the challenge of rebuilding a program that had not produced a winning season in 12 years and had not won more than three games in a season for six years.

In 2001, Pees led the Golden Flashes to a 6-5 record, notching the school's best mark in 14 years, and only the second winning season in 25 years.
In his last three seasons at Kent State, Pees' teams won more games than the school had won in the previous decade.

Prior to securing the head job at Kent State, Pees was the defensive coordinator and inside linebackers coach on Nick Saban's staff at Michigan State.

Pees joined Michigan State after serving as secondary coach on Lou Holtz's staff at Notre Dame during the 1994 season.

Dante Scarnecchia: Assistant Head Coach / Offensive Line

Bill Belichick named Scarnecchia the Patriots assistant head coach/ offensive line coach on Feb. 1, 2000. Dante Scarnecchia is a 39-year coaching veteran who is in his 28th season as an NFL assistant. He owns the longest coaching tenure in Patriots history, now entering his 26th season on the Patriots sidelines. He joined the Patriots in 1982, and has spent all but two seasons (1989-90) in Foxborough.

Scarnecchia is the only coach in franchise history to be a member of all six Super Bowl teams. He has been on the Patriots coaching staff during 13 of the franchise's 16 playoff appearances and has coached in 30 of the 34 playoff games in team history.

This will be the eleventh straight season that Scarnecchia's primary responsibility will be on the offensive line, a position he has coached for 24 years.