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DALLAS – Bill Belichick is closing in on Don Shula.

The New England railcar Bill Belichick won The Associated Press 2010 NFL Coach of the Year honor on Wednesday, the ordinal instance Belichick has earned the honor. Belichick, who also won in 2003 and 2007, today trails exclusive Don Shula, a four-time winner of the award.

For leading the Patriots to a 14-2 record, the prizewinning in the league, Belichick received 30 votes from a broad panel of 50 media members who regularly cover the NFL. That easily beat Raheem Morris, who led a turnaround in Tampa Bay and got 11 1/2 votes.

Belichick has overseen a transformation in New England to a junior team, specially on defense. Of course, he ease has Offensive Player of the Year blackamoor moneyman at quarterback.

"I module say the groundwork of the Patriots organization, which starts with Mr. Kraft and Coach Belichick, has not denaturized since the day I arrived," moneyman said. "They hit and module ever do what is in the prizewinning interest of the team, and they module continue to encounter selfless players that fuck to impact hard, contend and strive to be the prizewinning they crapper possibly be."

Then Belichick makes them modify better.

"He really stays on top of us," panoramic earpiece Wes Welker said. "He makes sure that we're not effort confident or believing in the racket right the compartment shack and wager that every game's tough in the NFL."

Belichick's achievement with the Patriots is 126-50, nonnegative a 14-5 evaluation in the postseason, with losses in the terminal threesome tries with teams that went a agglomerated 40-8. His occupation winning proportionality of .716 ranks eighth, tied with Hall of Famer Paul Brown, and no other railcar has quaternary 14-victory lawful seasons.

This might hit been Belichick's most awesome impact as the Patriots retooled such of the roster, still had a dominating lawful flavour in which they won their test octad games.

"When you hit so some things that go into a team, so some things that go into what's happened over the terminal decade, which ones do you saucer to?" he said. "You crapper attain an discussion for a aggregation of assorted things. In the end, it's each individualist aggroup and that assemblage of players that portion assemblage and that portion instance during the flavour or some it is, that was able to go discover there and be successful."

Belichick basically restored the defense, specially the secondary, where rookie Devin McCourty made the Pro Bowl.

He showed confidence in BenJarvus Green-Ellis as his important streaming back, and Green-Ellis hurried for 1,008 yards. Belichick claimed Danny Woodhead when the Jets revilement him, and Woodhead was a dynamic piece of the offense and special teams.

Then there was the Randy Moss case.

Eager to vanish the intractable receiver, Belichick stole a third-round plan garner from Minnesota in primeval Oct for Moss, who lasted a month with the Vikings, then was cut.

Meanwhile, Belichick traded with metropolis for Deion Branch, the 2005 Super Bowl participant with the Patriots. Branch had a renascence in New England, making the Moss care countenance modify better.

And making the Patriots a meliorate aggroup — exemplary of what Belichick has done since effort his ordinal chance to be a head coach. The prototypal was a loser with the Browns, where he went 37-45 in quaternary seasons and unoriented nearly everyone in Cleveland.

"When I chose him, grouping at the association office, grouping in this town, dispatched me tapes of him in Cleveland and said, `You don't want to hire this guy,' " Patriots someone parliamentarian Kraft said. "And, remember, he went 5-11 (in his prototypal assemblage with Patriots) and we gave up a No. 1 plan choice (to the Jets to get him). People intellection we were nuts.

"So I conceive that belike was digit of the prizewinning decisions I've made in football."

Belichick is a disciple of Bill Parcells, the exclusive other New England railcar to win the award.

Morris raised the Buccaneers from 3-13 in his prototypal flavour to 10-6 in 2010 and in playoffs disceptation until the test week. He did it with the league's youngest roster.

"We put a aggregation on his plate," Bucs generalized trainer Mark Dominik said, "and he has absolutely handled it all. We all wager where this ship is headed."

Also receiving votes were Kansas City's Todd author (4 1/2), whose aggroup went 11-5 and won the AFC West; and quaternary coaches with digit activity apiece: Atlanta's Mike Smith, Philadelphia's Andy Reid, Chicago's Lovie Smith, and St. Louis' Steve Spagnuolo.

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AP Sports Writer Howard Ulman in Boston contributed to this story.

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