November 19, 2021 - Croatian-American Bill Belichick is the highest-paid head sports coach in the United States!

Bill Belichick, the NFL strategist for the New England Patriots, has the highest salary among all head coaches in American sports, reveals Sportico.

Belichick, a 69-year-old of Croatian descent, has an annual salary of $18 million, and he also performs the duty of general manager at the Boston club. Belichick has been in New England since 2000 and is rightly known as the best NFL coach of all time for winning six Super Bowl titles.

American football coaches dominate this competition. Second place is shared by New Orleans Saints coach Sean Payton, Seattle Seahawks coach Pete Carroll, and Kansas City Chiefs coach Andy Ried, all bringing in $12 million a year.

The top five is closed by the highest-paid coach in the NBA league, Gregg Popovich ($11.5 million) of the San Antonio Spurs, who also serves as the coach of the USA basketball team.

Of the NBA coaches, only Steve Kerr ($9.5 million) of Golden State Warriors is in the top 10. 

Considered one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, Belichick has never been shy about speaking of his Croatian heritage. His grandfather, Ivan Biličić, and grandmother, Marija Barković, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1897 from Draganić.

In the HRT documentary series "Opstanak" in January 2020, Belichick recalled Croatian being spoken in his grandparents' house and between his father and mother, who quickly picked it up. 

“My grandfather Ivan and grandmother Marija, who changed her name to Mary on arrival to the US, left Draganić for America. They settled in Monessen near Pittsburgh. Grandfather never completed school but spoke six languages. He was a gardener and butcher and put food on the table for my father, another three sons, and a daughter. He always spoke of Croatia, but as a boy, I wasn’t too interested,” recalled Belichick.

Unlike Bill, his father was closely tied to the homeland. Still, he changed their last name from Biličić to Belichick.

“Father was very close to the Croatian community in Pennsylvania. His first cousin visited the villages we came from many times. When he married my mother in the Immigrant Centre, they suggested changing his name to Belichick, which he did. I am very proud of our Croatian history. I had the opportunity to visit this beautiful land and am proud of my heritage.”

Belichick even revealed that his son Stephen has a Croatian tattoo on his arm.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

January 12, 2021 - Croatian-American NFL Coach Bill Belichick is in the spotlight for declining the Presidental Medal of Freedom from Donald Trump. 

Arguably one of the most famous Croatian-Americans, Bill Belichick, the six-time Super Bowl winner with the New England Patriots and a known Trump supporter and friend, has refused to accept the Presidental Medal of Freedom from President Donald Trump in the aftermath of the Capitol Riots. 

Belichick, who was delighted by the honor, named the 'tragic events of last week' as the reason he could not accept the award, and said he holds the 'nation's values, freedom and democracy' above all, reports CNN.

"Recently, I was offered the opportunity to receive the Presidential Medal of Freedom, which I was flattered by out of respect for what the honor represents and admiration for prior recipients. Subsequently, the tragic events of last week occurred and the decision has been made not to move forward with the award. Above all, I am an American citizen with great reverence for our nation's values, freedom and democracy," Belichick said in a statement.

"I also represent my family and the New England Patriots team. One of the most rewarding things in my professional career took place in 2020 when, through the great leadership within our team, conversations about social justice, equality and human rights moved to the forefront and became actions. Continuing those efforts while remaining true to the people, team and country I love outweigh the benefits of any individual award," Belichick concluded.

Considered one of the greatest coaches in NFL history, Belichick has never been shy about speaking of his Croatian heritage. His grandfather, Ivan Biličić, and grandmother, Marija Barković, emigrated to Pennsylvania in 1897 from Draganić.

In the HRT documentary series "Opstanak" back in January 2020, Belichick recalled Croatian being spoken in his grandparents' house and between his father and mother, who quickly picked it up. 

He also said the family had visited Zagreb, and, of course, Draganić, 'to see and feel where we come from, where our roots are.' Belichick even revealed that his son Stephen has a Croatian tattoo on his arm.

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN’s dedicated page. 

February 4, 2019 - Once again, the New England Patriots lead by Croatian-American Head Coach Bill Belichick have won the Super Bowl! 

This is the Patriots 6^th championship in their dynasty, and it was arguably the best-coached game of Bill Belichick’s career. The team took on the Los Angeles Rams, who were the NFL’s #1 ranked defensive team - and they definitely came to play on Sunday. 

The Rams high powered defense would allow only a field goal to the Patriots in the first half. However, the more impressive statistic heading into halftime was that the Patriots allowed 0 points at halftime, which is something that not a lot of media outlets and experts give them credit for often.

This incredible defensive battle continued through the third quarter, but the Rams were able to kick a field goal of their own to make the score 3-3 heading into the fourth quarter. Bill and his team seemed poised heading into the fourth quarter of this defensive battle because their past Super Bowl appearances were decided by 8 points or fewer. Sure enough, in the fourth quarter, the Patriots scored the game’s only touchdown, thanks to a run by running-back Sony Michel. Kicker Stephen Gostkowski hit a field goal to make the final score 13-3. The game’s final score set an NFL record for the lowest scoring Super Bowl game in history but more importantly broke even bigger records. 

Quarterback Tom Brady now has the record for most Super Bowl wins by an NFL player and Bill Belichick extends his record of most Super Bowl wins by a coach. This is arguably the first time that the Patriots have been treated like the underdog almost all season. However, despite all the media noise and doubters, they have found a way to win and use that hate as motivational fuel to get the job done. The job that the Patriots have done in their dynasty is amazing, but it couldn’t have been done without their mastermind Croatian coach always finding a way to win the games that count. The 2019 Croatian dominance in sports is just beginning! 

Text by Thomas Mustac

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

January 22, 2019 - Some people try to change each year and announce on their social media accounts, “New year new me!”. However, that’s not the case with Croatian head coach Bill Belichick and his New England Patriots. The Patriots advanced to a record 11th Super Bowl. Nine out of the team’s 11 Super Bowl appearances have been during the Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady era. Despite the freezing temperatures at Arrowhead Stadium in Kansas City, the Patriots and Chiefs battled in an all-time great AFC Championship game. 

The game seemed to be dominated by the Patriots, who lead 14-0 heading into halftime. However, the Kansas City Chiefs battled back and even took the lead 28-24 with only 2:03 left in the game. This wasn’t unfamiliar territory for Belichick and Brady. The duo has had numerous comebacks in their careers - the most notable being in 2017 when they came back to a 28-3 deficit to the Atlanta Falcons in Super Bowl 51 to win their fifth Super Bowl, which is the largest comeback in Super Bowl history. 

Nonetheless, the Patriots comeback once again in Kansas City to take the lead 31-28. Following a Chiefs field goal with eight seconds left in regulation, the game went into overtime. The Patriots won the coin toss to begin overtime and marched the ball down the field scoring on their first possession. According to NFL rules, this ended the game automatically because they won the coin toss and scored on the first possession. This historic win put the underdog #2 seeded Patriots into the Super Bowl and defeated the AFC’s #1 seeded team.

If the Patriots win the Super Bowl, this will give Quarterback Tom Brady his sixth Super Bowl title, which would be the most by any player ever in the sport. Furthermore, this would extend Bill Belichick’s record for most by a coach, which would be his eighth. (6x head coach and 2x defensive coordinator) The NFL and the game of Football have had numerous Croatians succeed in the sport such as David Diehl, Pete Carroll, Rob Ninkovich, Nick Saban, etc. In a year that we witnessed Croatian dominance in sports, 2019 is off to a terrific start for our Croatian diaspora. For a nation that is so young, to accomplish all that has been done is truly amazing and something to cheer about. 

Let’s go Patriots!

Text by Thomas Mustać

To read more about sport in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

My grandfather worked two jobs, was a gardener and butcher and fed my father, three more sons and a daughter. When I was a boy, he always talked with passion about Croatia, says the most successful NFL coach