Bill Belichick Kids: Meet Amanda, Steve and Brian and See How All Three Built Coaching Careers

Bill Belichick is best known for building one of the most successful coaching careers in American football, but the sport has also become something of a family profession. His three children, Amanda, Stephen “Steve” Belichick and Brian Belichick, have all pursued coaching careers of their own.

Bill shares his three children with his former wife, Debby Clarke Belichick. Their daughter Amanda chose lacrosse rather than football, while sons Steve and Brian eventually followed their father into football coaching. What makes their stories interesting is that none of the three simply relied on the Belichick name. Each spent years playing sports, learning the profession and gradually moving into leadership positions.

The family connection became even more visible after Bill took over the football program at the University of North Carolina. Both of his sons joined him at UNC, while Amanda continued developing her own career as the head women’s lacrosse coach at Holy Cross. As of September 2026, Holy Cross lists Amanda as its head coach, while UNC lists Bill, Steve and Brian on the Tar Heels football coaching staff.

Who Are Bill Belichick’s Children?

Bill Belichick has three children with Debby Clarke Belichick: Amanda, Steve and Brian.

All three grew up around competitive sports. Their father’s demanding NFL career meant football was naturally a major part of family life, but Bill has said he did not pressure his children into coaching.

Instead, he encouraged them to find work they genuinely cared about.

That approach eventually produced an unusual result. All three entered coaching anyway, although Amanda built her career in women’s lacrosse while her brothers chose football.

Their grandfather, Steve Belichick, was also a longtime football coach and scout, meaning the younger Belichicks are part of a multigenerational coaching family.

Amanda Belichick Built Her Own Lacrosse Career

Amanda Belichick is Bill’s eldest child and his only daughter. Born in 1984, she developed an interest in lacrosse at a young age and later played the sport at Wesleyan University.

She graduated from Wesleyan in 2007 with a history degree.

Rather than moving directly into professional football simply because of her father’s background, Amanda stayed within lacrosse. She began developing her coaching career through different college programs and eventually returned to Wesleyan as a coach.

Her career took a major step forward when she became head coach of the women’s lacrosse program at the College of the Holy Cross.

By 2026, Amanda was in her 11th season leading the program. Holy Cross had reached consecutive Patriot League semifinals in recent seasons, and Amanda was named Patriot League Coach of the Year in 2024. She also received a contract extension that runs through the 2027 season.

Her success has allowed her to establish an identity in coaching that is separate from her father’s NFL achievements.

Bill has previously spoken about how their conversations can move quickly from being between a father and daughter to discussions between two coaches. They can talk about players, leadership problems, preparation and the daily challenges that come with managing a team.

Amanda has similarly described Bill as an important mentor.

Still, she has acknowledged that following him into coaching was not originally her plan. It simply became the career that suited her.

Amanda Is Also a Wife and Mother

Away from lacrosse, Amanda is married to AJ DeSantis.

The couple reportedly met online in 2014 and married in Rhode Island in 2017. Bill was there to walk his daughter down the aisle.

Amanda and AJ later became parents.

Their daughter Jaycee was born in 2018, making Bill a grandfather. They welcomed a son in 2020.

Amanda has generally kept her family life separate from her coaching career. Her public profile is primarily built around lacrosse, with most of the attention surrounding her work at Holy Cross rather than her personal life.

When Bill accepted the UNC coaching job, however, Amanda publicly celebrated the decision and shared her pride in her father.

Steve Belichick Followed Bill Into Football

Stephen “Steve” Belichick is Bill’s older son and second child.

Born in March 1987, Steve grew up surrounded by football but initially made his mark in lacrosse.

He attended Rutgers University and played lacrosse for four years. During his senior year, he also joined the Rutgers football team as a long snapper.

His professional coaching journey began in 2012 when he joined the New England Patriots as a coaching assistant.

Working for the same organization as his father placed Steve under greater scrutiny than most young assistants, but he gradually took on larger responsibilities.

He became the Patriots’ safeties coach in 2016 before later working with outside linebackers and linebackers. From 2020 through 2023, he also handled defensive play-calling responsibilities for New England.

That experience eventually gave him an opportunity to establish himself outside his father’s staff.

Steve’s Move From Washington to UNC

Following the end of Bill Belichick’s long tenure with the Patriots, Steve moved into college football.

He became defensive coordinator at the University of Washington for the 2024 season.

When Bill accepted the North Carolina head coaching job, Steve later joined him in Chapel Hill as defensive coordinator.

UNC’s official 2026 coaching information lists Steve as the Tar Heels’ defensive coordinator. His biography credits the defense with several notable improvements during his first year with the program, including strong red-zone performance.

Working alongside his father again brought Steve’s career full circle, although he arrived at UNC with extensive NFL experience and a season as a college defensive coordinator already behind him.

Steve has often spoken openly about his admiration for Bill, calling his father a role model while also developing a coaching personality of his own.

Steve Belichick’s Wife and Children

Steve is married to Jennifer Schmitt.

The couple married in Nantucket in June 2017 and have four children: Blakely, Hayes, Quincy and Rocco.

Jennifer usually keeps a relatively low profile, although she occasionally attracts attention when commenting publicly on issues surrounding the Belichick family.

Their family life also means Bill is now a grandfather several times over.

For Steve, balancing coaching and family comes with some familiarity. He grew up watching his own father work through the intense NFL calendar and has experienced firsthand how demanding the profession can become.

Brian Belichick Is Bill’s Youngest Child

Brian Belichick is the youngest of Bill’s three children.

He attended Trinity College, where he studied anthropology and played lacrosse.

Like Steve, Brian eventually moved into professional football.

He joined the Patriots organization in 2016 as a scouting or personnel assistant. The following years saw him move into coaching, first working as a defensive assistant before becoming the team’s safeties coach.

Brian remained with New England longer than his father and brother after Bill’s departure.

His Patriots career ultimately lasted nine seasons. During that period, Brian was part of two Super Bowl-winning teams and gained experience working within the defensive system that had defined much of his father’s career.

Brian Joined His Father and Brother at UNC

Brian eventually reunited professionally with Bill and Steve at North Carolina.

He joined the Tar Heels in 2025 as defensive backs and safeties coach. UNC continues to list him in that role for the 2026 season.

That created an unusual coaching arrangement.

Bill serves as head coach, Steve works with the defense as coordinator, and Brian coaches defensive backs and safeties.

For a family that has spent decades around football, the arrangement brings three generations of coaching influence together. Their grandfather Steve Belichick had actually worked as an assistant at North Carolina during the 1950s before spending decades coaching at the U.S. Naval Academy.

That history gives Bill’s move to Chapel Hill an additional family connection beyond his two sons joining the staff.

Brian Belichick’s Wife

Brian is married to Catherine “Callie” McLaughlin.

The couple married in Nantucket in June 2021.

Both Amanda and Steve were reportedly involved in the wedding celebration, reflecting the close connection among the three siblings despite their demanding professional lives.

Brian has generally remained the most private of Bill’s three children. Although his football career receives attention because of his surname, he gives fewer public interviews and shares relatively little about his home life.

Coaching Has Become a Belichick Family Tradition

Bill Belichick’s children have taken different routes, but coaching connects all three.

Amanda has built a long-running career in Division I women’s lacrosse, while Steve and Brian spent years learning football within the Patriots organization before eventually entering the college game.

Their careers also show that the Belichick coaching story did not begin with Bill.

Bill’s father, Steve, spent decades working in football, and now Bill’s children represent another generation in the profession.

What started as one family’s connection to sports has developed into careers spanning lacrosse, the NFL and major college football.

For Bill Belichick, his legacy is therefore no longer limited to championships and decades on NFL sidelines. Amanda, Steve and Brian have each taken pieces of that coaching background and built careers of their own, making coaching one of the strongest threads running through the Belichick family.