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Bill Belichick lacrosse family history
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Belichick Lacrosse History: Lax Runs in the Family

Before becoming the best head coach in NFL history, Bill Belichick fell in love with the sport of lacrosse.

Bill Belichick grew up in Annapolis, Maryland, and graduated from Annapolis High School in 1970. He played both football and lacrosse in high school and has said that lacrosse was his favorite sport. Belichick attended Wesleyan University in Middletown, Connecticut, where he played center and tight end on the football team.

On top of this, Belichick was also a member of the men’s lacrosse program, earning a captain position on the team by his senior year. While Belichick was primarily a defenseman, he also served as the backup goalie on the team.

Following his graduation in 1975, Belichick bounced around as an assistant coach for multiple NFL teams over the next four years, including the Baltimore Colts, Detroit Lions, and Denver Broncos. During his time in Detroit, Belichick was a volunteer assistant lacrosse coach at Detroit Country Day High School in Birmingham, Michigan. Belichick’s stint at Country Day isn’t well recorded, as no one remembers exactly how, when, or why Belichick showed up.

The New York Giants became Belichicks home for the next 12 seasons as a defensive assistant and special teams coach. During the 1990s, Belichick became the head coach of the Cleveland Browns before taking the head coaching job for the New England Patriots, and the rest is history.

Belichick eventually got married and had three children: Amanda, Stephen, and Brian. Belichick has said his children were the primary reason he has stayed connected with lacrosse throughout the years.

“That’s kind of kept me involved with it,” Belichick told Nick O’Malley of MassLive in 2019. “I’ve really just stayed involved with it ever since I first started watching it back in around 1962, 63.”

All three of the Belichick children played collegiate lacrosse, with Amanda playing at Wesleyan, Stephen playing at Rutgers, and Brian playing a Trinity.

Amanda was lethal at Wesleyan University, recording 47 goals and 25 assists for 72 points during her career, including a 52-point season in 2006. She went on to become an assistant coach at UMass before spending three seasons as the offensive coordinator at Ohio State. Amanda coached three Tewaaraton Award nominees, four IWLCA All-Americans, and 11 All-American Lacrosse Conference players. The Buckeyes were ranked No. 19 in the nation in scoring offense with 219 goals and 2.88 goals per game in 2012. Amanda has been the head women’s lacrosse coach at Holy Cross University since 2018.

Stephen Belichick was a defenseman and long-stick midfielder at Rutgers from 2008 to 2011. During his senior year, Stephen joined the football team as a long snapper. Stephen joined the New England Patriots coaching staff following graduation and was promoted to the safeties coach in 2016.

Brian Belichick attended Trinity College and was a member of the men’s lacrosse team. After graduation in 2016, Brian also entered the Patriots coaching staff as a scouting assistant. During the 2020 season, Brian took the safeties coaching position, with his brother Stephen moving to the linebackers coach spot.

Bill Belichick is an investor in the Premier Lacrosse League and is still very active in the lacrosse community to this day.

Now for the other lacrosse news from the week of Sept. 28 – Oct. 4, 2021.

Last Week in Lacrosse

2020 PLL MVP Zed Williams has officially signed a contract with the Colorado Mammoth. Williams was acquired by the Mammoth back in July from the Georgia Swarm in exchange for defenseman Dan Coates and a first-round selection in the 2020 NLL Entry Draft.

The NLL released its full slate of games for the upcoming 2021-2022 season. There has been no word yet on any United States video streaming deals.

Hartford women’s lacrosse will withdraw from America East competition in 2021-2022. Last week, Hawks’ women’s lacrosse welcomed Jen Nardi as its new head coach. Nardi and her new assistant coach are committed to building the program in the years ahead. 

University of Bridgeport will add men’s lacrosse program coming the Fall 2022 semester. The Bridgeport Purple Knights are located in Bridgeport, Connecticut, and compete in NCAA Division II intercollegiate sports.

East Coast Dyes released teaser images for the ECD Carbon 3 shaft. The ECD Carbon line of lacrosse shafts have become one of the most popular pieces of equipment in the sport.

Following up on the Benet Academy story from two weeks ago, Abbot Austin G. Murphy of St. Procopius Abbey – which oversees Benet – said he was “deeply troubled” by a decision that goes against Catholic Church teaching. Austin went on to write that Pope Francis “has been clear that our love and respect for all persons is not in contradiction with Church doctrine on the sacrament of matrimony and teachings on sexuality,” and added that beliefs about the morality of same-sex relationships should not be equated with hate.

Get Caught Up on LAS Content

Miss out on what we did last week? Here’s a recap of some of our top content from the last seven days.

MY LACROSSE GEAR GUIDE: IT BETTER LOOK GOOD

Tyson Bell breaks down his NLL and PLL gear guide all the way from his protective gear down to his mesh.

FIVE LACROSSE RULES EXPLAINED FOR BEGINNERS

Writer Nick Zoroya took a minute to break down some of the basic rules of lacrosse to get new players up to speed.

EXPLAINING THE TOP 25 LACROSSE HEADS

What are the best lacrosse heads? Tucker La Belle explains his top 25 heads from his years of playing lacrosse.

ATTACK U: WHO HAS PRODUCED THE BEST ATTACKMEN?

Ryan Conwell starts the conversation on what school has earned the prestigious title of Attack U based on the last decade of talent.

Best lacrosse attackmen Attack U