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3 months ago
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Other than his success on the gridiron, Bill Belichick has always been known for his reserved personality and one-word, monotonous answers at press conferences while still the head coach of the New England Patriots (2000-2024).
But, the 72-year-old, six-time Super Bowl champion seems to have made headlines over personal matters more often than he would have probably liked to over the last year, first off with details of his shocking, new relationship to a 24-year-old, former cheerleader this week, followed by reports of his split from his girlfriend of 16 years in September.
There was also a time when Bill was married for nearly four decades.
So, as more information emerges on the former NFL head coach's personal life, who exactly is Bill Belichick away from the football field? And does he have a family?
Mail Sport takes a look.
Reports of Bill Belichick dating a 24-year-old former cheerleader have emerged late this week
Belichick's only been married once, and is the father of three kids: Amanda, Stephen and Brian
The ex-Patriots coach was also once in a long-term relationship with a woman closer to his age
Who is Debby Clarke?
Bill, who always kept mum on his private life by following common advice that work and personal matters should never be mixed during his coaching days, married his childhood sweetheart, Debby Clarke, in 1977.
Together, they had three children -- two sons, Stephen and Brian, and a daughter, Amanda.
But in 2006, Bill and Debby divorced due to allegations that Bill had an extramarital affair with Sharon Shenocca - a former New York Giants receptionist who he knew from his days on Big Blue's coaching staff from 1979-1984.
According to the New York Post in 2006, Bill 'showered' Shenocca with pricey gifts 'and enough cash to hire a maid' for her Morriston, New Jersey, home, which she shared with her former husband, who worked in construction. Awkward...
Debby Clarke (second from left) was married to Bill for nearly four decades from 1977 to 2006
However, the 41-year-old mom of two – who quit the Giants front office in the mid-1990s – denied having an affair with the then-Patriots head coach, as she claimed in divorce papers that Bill was always just a friend. Her lawyer called the relationship platonic.
'From Day One, it was always friendship,' a friend of Shenocca's told the Boston Herlad in 2006. 'He's strictly a friend, and nothing more.'
Nowadays, Clark 'is leading a quiet but peaceful life away from the media spotlight,' as she runs a tile business - 'The Art of Tile & Stone' - in Wellesley, Massachusetts, according to Sportskeeda.
The 67-year-old, who's passionate about design, is also a graduate from Wesleyan University, just like her ex-hubby!
Who are Belichick's three children: Amanda, Steve and Brian?
Born in 1984, Amanda is Belichick's eldest child and only daughter. According to her LinkedIn, she graduated from Wesleyan University in 2007 with a degree in history.
She's now the head coach of the College of the Holy Cross' women's lacrosse team - a role she's had since 2015. In 2017, she revealed in a Sports Illustrated interview that her 'intention was never to follow' in her father's footsteps. She also once described her father as a 'wonderful mentor.'
In 2017, Amanda married her husband, AJ DeSantis, who she met online three years earlier. In 2018, she gave birth to a daughter, Jaycee. Two years later, Amanda and AJ welcomed their second child, a son.
Meanwhile, 37-year-old Stephen 'Steve' is Bill's older son and second child. He was a walk-on on Rutgers' football team and also played lacrosse in college. He joined the Patriots' coaching staff in 2012 as a coaching assistant and was promoted to safeties coach in 2016.
Steve then transitioned to coaching the outside linebackers in 2020. He left his role this offseason, shortly after his dad was ousted as Patriots head coach and de-facto general manager, to become the defensive coordinator of the Washington Huskies.
In his personal life, Steve, who has three Super Bowls under his belt, is married to his wife, Jennifer. The couple wed in Nantucket in 2017 and share four children: Blakely, Hayes, Quincy and Roco.
Bill's eldest child is his only daughter, Amanda, who is a lacrosse coach at Holy Cross College
On the other hand, Bill's two sons, Stephen and Brian, were both assistant coaches on the Pats
Brian's the only Belichick now on the Patriots. He was retained by new head coach Jared Mayo
Steve once described working under his father as 'cool' in a 2016 interview, adding that he loves his dad and considers him to be his role model and idol. 'I want to be just like him,' he further said, at the time.
Last but not least, Brian is the youngest of Bill's children. He graduated from Trinity College, where he studied anthropology and played for the Bantam lacrosse team, in 2016.
He, too, worked for his father, as he was hired by the Patriots as a scouting assistant in 2016. A year later, Brian joined Steve as one of several coaching assistants in New England.
'They have been around a lot of football. They have seen a lot of football. They have seen things done from a different perspective than other people, but in the end I don't know anybody that knows our football program better than Stephen, who has been in it a little bit longer, but Brian as well, have just lived their whole life with this program,' Bill said in 2020, per the New York Post.
Brian was then promoted to safeties coach in 2020. He still holds that role under new Patriots head coach Jared Mayo, going into the 2024 NFL season.
Away from the gridiron, Brian married Catherine 'Callie' McLaughlin in Nantucket in 2021.
Who is Linda Holiday?
A year after his divorce from Debby, Bill started dating former 'Style Boston' sports correspondent and philanthropist, Linda Holiday, in 2007.
Linda, who is the current president of the Bill Belichick foundation, which focuses on providing scholarships for athletes in underprivileged circumstances across the US, has two daughters, Ashley and Kat Hess, both 30, from a previous relationship.
She also studied radiology at Vanderbilt University and sold X-rays and MRIs before transitioning to a career in media.
Last year, Bill purchased a getaway home in Jupiter, Florida, Linda's hometown. The property is just a 35-minute drive north from Palm Beach, where the former couple met. Bill planned to give the home to his former partner after reports of their split, but it remains unclear if that's actually happened.
Linda Holliday started dating Bill after the six-time Super Bowl winner divorced from his wife
Bill (C) and Linda (L) separated in October after 16 years of relationship. They never married
Bill and Linda also shared a dog, an Alaskan Klee Kai, named Nike, while they were dating. An Instagram account made for Nike and handled by Linda has over 20,000 followers.
Linda once attended several Patriots games while still in a relationship with the ex-Patriots head coach, while Bill would be by his former partner's side to accompany her at charity events, including the Breast Cancer Research's Foundation 2014 Hot Pink Party.
However, since the pair split in Sept., Linda's role in the Bill Belichick foundation has proven to be a headscratcher for both parties.
'They have issues to clear up that come from a long relationship as well as her role in his professional life,' a source told PEOPLE. 'She will still be in Jupiter, and we will see what happens.'
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