Tom Brady Calls Bill Belichick 'Best Coach' in NFL History After Patriots Exit

One year after hanging up his cleats after 23 seasons in the NFL, Tom Brady shared a message to Bill Belichick after his tenure as head coach of the New England Patriots came to an end.

In a post on Instagram that included a picture of them together, Brady said he was "incredibly grateful to have played for the best coach in the history of the NFL."

In a joint press conference on Thursday, Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft announced a mutual parting of ways after 24 seasons together.

The Brady-Belichick pairing came together in a way that no one could have predicted would lead to the most successful quarterback-coach partnership in football history.

Belichick resigned from his position with the New York Jets on the day of his introductory press conference to join the Patriots in January 2000. New England had to send its first-round pick in that draft (No. 16 overall) to the Jets as compensation.

That was the same draft New England used the 199th overall pick to select Brady. One year later, the Patriots were winning the first Super Bowl in franchise history after Brady replaced an injured Drew Bledsoe in Week 2.

Over the course of 20 seasons together, Brady and Belichick led the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories in nine appearances. They won 17 division titles and played in the AFC Championship Game 13 times during that span.

Brady left the Patriots as a free agent following the 2019 season. He went on to have three successful years with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, including a Super Bowl victory during the 2020 season.

Belichick finished his tenure as Patriots head coach with 296 total wins between the regular season and playoffs. He has more regular-season losses with the team (121) than any other person in franchise history has games coached.

When you combine Belichick's stats from the Patriots and Cleveland Browns, who he coached from 1991 to '95, he ranks second all-time in career wins between the regular season and postseason (333).

Belichick is the only head coach in NFL history with at least five Super Bowls.