Bill Belichick ties George Halas on NFL’s all-time wins list, defers credit to his players

BOSTON — Bill Belichick isn’t one for career milestones, especially when that career is his own. Wins are all that matters to the Patriots head coach.

Those two worlds collided on Sunday though, as New England’s 38-15 win over the Browns in Cleveland moved Belichick into a tie for second place on the NFL’s all-time wins list. With 324 combined regular season and postseason victories, Belichick is now in a tie with the great George Halas.

As always, Belichick pushed any recognition going his way onto his players and coaching staffs over the years.

“You can’t win games in this league without good players and I’ve been fortunate to coach great players and have great coaches on my staff over the years,” said Belichick. “Players, many are Patriots Hall of Famers or Football Hall of Famers — or are going to be. I’ve been very fortunate to have a lot of them. Had them in New York, Cleveland, and have them here.

“George Halas and Paul Brown, I probably shouldn’t be included with them, I think,” Belichick said of his place in NFL history. “I have a ton of respect for Coach Halas and what he did for professional football. How he and Paul Brown and others like them paved the way for us as coaches and for the NFL to grow to what it is today. They put down a lot of the building blocks.” 

Patriots players past and present congratulated Belichick after the game. Current Patriots linebacker Matthew Judon said that his head coach didn’t mention the milestone after the game.

“That is just a lot of hard work, a lot of hours, a lot of execution, a lot of attention to detail,” Judon said of Belichick’s career. For him to tie that record? That’s nice. That’s really, really nice.”

Cornerback Jalen Mills said after Sunday’s win that he came to New England because of Belichick and wanted to learn under the best to ever do it. Jonnu Smith echoed a similar sentiment.

“It was a no brainer for me, not because it’s a historical franchise, but coach Belichick is such a football mind. A football maniac. I knew I would learn the game from a different set of eyes. To take that in as a football player, a competitor, a student of the game, that meant a lot to me,” said Smith. 

“He’s a hell of a coach and a great person. He always gives us presentations on the history of the game and I appreciate that,” added Smith. “When he gets to talking about when this happened, when he gets rambling on how these are the first guys who invented this formation, it blew me away how much he knows. Being around him and see the game from his perspective – that’s a good man right there.”

Special teams captain Matthew Slater said they didn’t celebrate Sunday because Belichick only tied the record, and they hope to celebrate him moving into sole possession of second place soon.

“Unbelievable what he has done, and it’s only fitting that we’re here in Cleveland, a place that ran him out,” added Slater. “All these years later, he’s proving that he’s the best that has ever done it.”

Sunday was Belichick’s 256th regular season win with the Patriots, with 30 more victories in postseason play. He’ll have a chance to claim sole possession of second place next Monday night when his 3-3 Patriots host the 2-4 Chicago Bears.

Once he claims second place for his own, only Don Shula will sit above Belichick with 347 combined wins.