Bill Belichick is an American football coach who is the head coach of the New England Patriots of the National Football League (NFL). Belichick has extensive authority over the Patriots' football operations, effectively making him the general manager of the team as well. He was previously the head coach of the Cleveland Browns. Belichick's father, Steve, was a longtime college football scout and coach who worked for 34 years at the U.S. Naval Academy. Bill often studied football with his father, and has cited him as one of his greatest mentors. He went on to play football and lacrosse in high school and football, lacrosse, and squash at Wesleyan University, Middletown, Connecticut. He was captain of the lacrosse team in his senior year. Belichick began his coaching career in 1975, and by 1985, he was the Defensive Coordinator for New York Giants head coach, Bill Parcells. Parcells and Belichick won two Super Bowls together (XXI and XXV), before Belichick left to become the head coach in Cleveland in 1991. He remained in Cleveland for five seasons, and was fired following the team's 1995 season. Belichick then rejoined Parcells, first in New England, and later with the New York Jets. After being named head coach of the Jets in early 2000, Belichick resigned after only one day on the job to accept the head coaching job for the New England Patriots. Since then, he has coached the Patriots to six Super Bowl appearances. His teams won Super Bowls XXXVI, XXXVIII, XXXIX, and XLIX, and lost Super Bowls XLII and XLVI. He has led the Patriots to 13 AFC East division titles and 10 appearances in the AFC Championship Game. He was named the AP NFL Coach of the Year for the 2003, 2007, and 2010 seasons. Belichick is the NFL's longest-tenured active head coach, and currently is 4th in regular season coaching wins in the NFL at 232, and first in playoff coaching wins with 23. He completed his 40th season as an NFL coach in 2014 and won his fourth Super Bowl, tying Pittsburgh's Chuck Noll for the most Super Bowl wins by a head coach. He is one of only five head coaches with four or more titles in NFL history. He is also the only head coach in NFL history to win three Super Bowl championships in a four-year span.