The New England Patriots are moving on from head coach Bill Belichick after a 24-season stint that included six Super Bowl victories, nine AFC titles and 17 AFC East division championships.

"For me, this is a day of gratitude and celebration," Belichick said at a press conference on Thursday.

According to ESPN's Adam Schefter, Patriots linebackers coach Jerod Mayo "projects to be" a leading candidate to take over as head coach.

No person owns more Super Bowl rings than Belichick, who earned an additional two with the New York Giants as their defensive coordinator in 1986 and 1990.

His Pats went 266-121 from 2000 to 2023. Belichick is the only head coach to lead a team to a perfect record during a 16-game regular season (2007) and also guided them to 21 straight victories over the course of the 2003 and 2004 campaigns.

Belichick has coached in the NFL for 49 years, with 29 seasons coming as a head coach for the Cleveland Browns (1991-95) and New England (2000-23).

Under his guidance, the Patriots posted winning seasons each year from 2001-19. Former Dallas Cowboys head coach Tom Landry stands as the only person to post more consecutive winning seasons (20).

In addition, Belichick's Pats made the playoffs 17 times between 2001 and 2019, winning the AFC East each year except 2002 and 2008, when they missed out on the division crown on tiebreakers.

No American professional sports franchise has won a higher percentage of games than Belichick's Pats from 2000-19. He also holds a 31-13 career playoff record.

The 71-year-old ranks second all-time with 333 wins, including the regular season and playoffs. Only Don Shula (347) has more.

The Pats have proved to be a model of remarkable stability and success under Belichick, who is also the team's de facto general manager.

His accomplishments stand out even more in the salary-cap era, which has forced leaguewide parity and makes it more difficult for successful teams to keep their cores together.

Still, New England found a way to succeed year in and year out despite rotating players over two decades.

The 2020 season did not feature the same success as the others, though, as the Pats struggled to a 7-9 finish and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2008.

It was their first season since 1999 without six-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, who left for the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in free agency.

However, the Pats bounced back in 2021, going 10-7 and clinching a postseason berth behind a dominant run game and a stout defense as rookie quarterback Mac Jones called signals. The campaign ended with a thud after a 47-17 loss to the Buffalo Bills.

The 2022 season was not as successful, with the team going 8-9 and missing the playoffs. Then the bottom really fell out in 2023, with the Pats' win total cut in half as the offense finished second-last in scoring.

Regardless of that finish, the three-time Associated Press Coach of the Year is still the most decorated head coach in league history.