Bill Belichick PICTURE SPECIAL: NFL's most iconic coach leaves New England Patriots after 24 seasons, six Super Bowls and an all-conquering partnership with Tom Brady

READ: Bill Belichick is OUT as New England Patriots head coach after 24 years in shock NFL newsBelichick, now 71, won the Super Bowl six times and forged an iconic partnership with Tom BradyDailyMail.com provides all the latest international sports news

Bill Belichick’s time with New England Patriots has come to an end after a 24-year era that will go down as one of the all-time definitive eras in the NFL.

Belichick won six Super Bowls with the Patriots and forged one of football’s most iconic partnerships with Tom Brady at quarterback – who he drafted in the sixth round with the 199th pick.

His last season ended with a 4-13 losing record and his final game was a loss to the New York Jets at Foxboro Stadium. After that game on Sunday, Belichick was non-committal over his Patriots future but reaffirmed how much he enjoys coaching.

Where he goes from here is a story for another day but for now, one of the NFL’s all-time great eras can be reflected upon and celebrated.

DailyMail.Com looks back at some of the finest pictures from Belichick’s time in New England.

Bill Belichick is leaving New England Patriots after 24 years and six Super Bowl titles, bringing one of the most iconic eras in the history of the NFL to a close. Here, he is pictured almost 24 years ago, saluting fans with the Vince Lombardi trophy after victory over the Carolina Panthers in 2004 in Houston, Texas – his second of six titles

But to speak of Belichick is to speak of Tom Brady, too. Belichick’s 199th pic of the 2000 Draft, nobody could then have realized that that the quarterback Brady would evolve into the finest player to ever compete in football. Here, Brady is pictured in the Patriots locker room, at the age of 23, in his rookie season.

Two years later they were celebrating their first Super Bowl triumph together, as Brady and Belichick spearheaded the Patriots’ surge to victory – defeating the St. Louis Rams 20-17 and the Louisiana Superdome. Brady was named the game’s MVP and this celebratory picture with Belichick would go on to be repeated across the years

Two years later and Belichick (left) was back at the summit of football again. Here, the relief is pictured etched across his face as the Patriots clinched a narrow 32-29 victory against Carolina Panthers, fending off a fourth-quarter, 19-point fightback from their opponents in Texas. Brady again won the game’s MVP honor.

A year later and it was a third title for Belichick and the Patriots, as they really turned the screw on their dominance of the NFL. To the right of the picture, Belichick’s left, is his father Steve who was not spared from the ice bucket being poured over his son while they shared a tender moment together. The Patriots beat the Philadelphia Eagles 24-21 in Jacksonville, Florida

But then, a trophy drought. Belichick, Brady and the Patriots would go nine seasons before getting their hands on the Vince Lombardi trophy again. They came close on a couple of occasions – here, the star player and one of the game’s greatest minds scramble for answers in the 2007 Super Bowl in Glendale, Arizona. The Patriots would lose 17-14 to the New York Giants

Belichick had another taste of defeat in 2012 – here he is pictured leaving the field at halftime in 2012 game against the Giants (again) at Lucas Oil Stadium in Indianapolis. The Giants plodded through the regular season with a 9-7 record, compared the Patriots’ commanding 13-3 season, but New York hit form when it mattered most, beating the Patriots 21-17

Belichick’s sons, Stephen and Brian, watch Brady during a August 2010 training camp practice ahead of the new season. The coach has three children – a daughter Amanda as well as his two boys.

But Belichick and the Patriots would not be kept out of the winners’ circle for long. In 2015, they returned to victorious ways with a 28-24 win over Seattle Seahawks at the University of Phoenix Stadium, in Arizona. The Patriots team are pictured mobbing their coach, returning with an ice bucket to pour over him in the epic celebratory scenes.

Belichick, soaked in freezing water, then made his way over to his quarterback Brady to savor the scenes of victory together. Brady again won the Super Bowl MVP award, with he and his coach lifting the Vince Lombardi trophy for the fourth time

Two years later and Belichick (right) stood to one side to let Tom Brady deservedly take the limelight after a frankly astonishing fightback to beat Atlanta Falcons to the Super Bowl. The Patriots trailed 28-3 in the third quarter of the showpiece game in Texas before the Patriots hit 25 points unanswered to take it to overtime. Brady set a record of 43 completed passes, 62 pass attempted and 466 passing yards to haul the Patriots the unlikeliest of victories.

Two months later, in April 2017, Belichick and the Patriots team visited President Donald Trump at the White House to celebrate their latest Super Bowl triumph. Here Belichick, Trump and Patriots owner Robert Kraft stand together at a welcoming ceremony on the South Lawn at the White House and presented the President with a helmet from the Super Bowl. Brady, citing family reasons, did not attend.

Belichick isn’t really known for his range of emotions – a banner made by Patriots fans back in October 2017 affectionately captured how, whatever is happening on the field, the coach remained a calm and composed figure on the sidelines

Belichick and Brady won their sixth and final Super Bowl together in 2019, beating the Rams 13-3 at the Mercedes-Benz stadium in Atlanta in 2019. It’s the last one that Belichick has won, while Brady would leave the Patriots later that year and join Tampa Bay Buccaneers, delivering a seventh title there in 2021

Belichick pictured with his partner Linda Holliday on the Patriots parade after the 2019 Super Bowl triumph. The couple split in 2023 after dating since 2007. Before that, Belichick was married for 29 years.

Game recognizes game: His success with the Patriots commands respect across sport – here, while watching the Celtics play the Lakers in the NBA at TD Garden in Boston, LeBron James took a moment to greet Belichick after the game. ‘Coach Belichick is such a LEGEND!!!!’ James wrote on X on Thursday when news of his Patriots exit emerged.

Belichick’s final game for the Patriots was at a snowy Foxboro Stadium on Sunday, with his team beaten by 17-3 by a New York Jets team that had also failed to make the playoffs. It means that Belichick signs off from his time in New England with a disappointing 4-13 season with a team in transition

Belichick pictured leaving the podium after talking to reporters in the aftermath of the Patriots loss to the Jets. The 71-year-old was coy over his future with the organization but underlined how much he enjoys coaching. But now, if that is to continue, it will be somewhere else in the NFL.

After the news of his departure emerged, Belichick shakes hands with Patriots owner Robert Kraft at his farewell press conference on January 11, with Kraft hailing Belichick as ‘the greatest coach of all time – which makes this decision to part ways so hard. But this is a move that we mutually agreed that is needed’