Belichick was hired by the Patriots a day after accepting a head-coaching job with the New York Jets. As Belichick told Van Natta, the Jets' ownership situation was uncertain after previous owner Leon Hess died in 1999. The team was managed by his estate between 1999 and 2000 before Woody Johnson purchased it.

Bill Belichick, heralded as one of the most successful coaches in NFL history, will begin his first college coaching job this fall as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels.