Super Bowl LII: Record-Breaking Croatian-American Coach Bill Belichick Aims for 6th Championship

Croatian-American NFL coach Bill Belichick will be going for his 6th Super Bowl victory when he leads the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LII this weekend.

Super Bowl LII will be the 52nd Super Bowl and will be played between the Philadelphia Eagles and New England Patriots on Sunday 4 February 2018, at U.S. Bank Stadium in Minneapolis, Minnesota.

If the New England Patriots win on Sunday, Bill Belichick will join George Halas and Curly Lambeau as the only coaches to win six NFL championships since postseason play began in 1933.

Belichick is the NFL’s longest-tenured active head coach and is the only head coach in NFL history to win three Super Bowl championships in a four-year span. He goes into Super Bowl LII tied with Vince Lombardi with five titles.

Belichick’s 11th Super Bowl appearance, eighth as a head coach, is the most of all time.

Belichick, whose paternal grandparents Ivan Biličić and Marija Barković emigrated from Karlovac in Croatia in 1897 and left for the USA, where they settled near Pittsburgh, is proud of his Croatian heritage.

“I am very proud of my dad’s family tradition and history with Croatians. I had the opportunity to visit the beautiful country a couple of times and I’m proud of that heritage,” Belichick was quoted as saying.

His father, Steve Belichick (born Stephen Biličić), played for the Detroit Lions and was an assistant coach and scout with the United States Naval Academy football team for 33 years.

If Belichick can lead his team to victory on Sunday, the Patriots would then join the Pittsburgh Steelers as the only franchise to achieve two repeats.