Bill Belichick prioritizes championships over setting wins record in NFL

With him available for hire for a year, Bill Belichick left the NFL last week for his first college job at North Carolina. However, that came as quite a surprise to some for many reasons, including that he’s within 26 victories of the all-time wins record in that league.

While on ‘The Pat McAfee Show’ on Monday, Belichick addressed leaving that milestone behind. He said he never considered it when thinking about taking the Tar Heels’ job as there was something that was always more important to him while in the National Football League.

“You know, I never really gave that one a lot of thought to be completely honest with you,” Belichick said.

“However many wins that was or wasn’t, 300-and-whatever the number is? It’s great. I’m not being disrespectful at all. What means the most to me is the eight Super Bowl trophies that I had a small part in and I’m very proud to have been part of those teams,” said Belichick.

The 302 wins during his tenures with Cleveland and New England are an achievement of their own as they’re the third-most all-time by any coach behind only Don Shula and George Halas. Still, the six victories in the Super Bowl, respectfully, hold more value to Belichick and his career.

“It’s not about wins to me. It’s about championships,” Belichick said. “That’s what I want to do. I want to win championships.”

“The wins are great and you’ve got to win games to win championships. I mean, I get that. But, to me, it’s about championships. That’s really what I’m most proud of is not how many games we won, because it’s hard to win in the NFL. I am proud of the games that we won and the teams that won those. But I’m proud of the championships that I was a member of and contributed to,” said Belichick. “Teams win championships and I’m proud to be, you know, an eight-time Super Bowl champion, part of eight teams. They weren’t my teams. I was part of those teams.”

Belichick could have returned to the pros with a new franchise and potentially added that record to his resumé. Without the Super Bowls, though, they just wouldn’t have meant as much – which is why he’ll now look to win a title in the College Football Playoff while at Chapel Hill.

“That’s really what means the most to me. We look back on games that we won and, you know, proud of those moments. But it’s when you can put together a full season and walk off the field as the best team at the end of the year? That’s what really means the most to me,” Belichick said.