Clips from famous Bill Belichick interviews started playing on the radio when I got in my car after an early morning workout Thursday.

That’s when I suspected something had happened between Robert Kraft and the Patriots legendary head coach. A quick scroll through social media confirmed my gut reaction.

Kraft and Belichick agreed to mutually part ways after 24 years of running the NFL’s premier franchise. Six Super Bowl championships, nine Super Bowl appearances, 17 division titles and 13 conference championship appearances.

Wow, it’s all over.

And now fans, like myself, who have never truly known a Patriots team without Belichick and future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady are starting to piece together how good we’ve had it our entire lives.

Yes, I know. It really hasn’t been the same since Brady departed Foxboro for balmy Tampa Bay where he’d go on to quarterback the Buccaneers to his seventh championship. Meanwhile, New England got routed in its only playoff appearance since Brady’s departure in 2020.

But still, when reports came out Thursday morning that Belichick’s time in Foxboro crossed the finish line I felt an immense sense of gratitude towards the now former head coach.

I was just 3 years old when Belichick returned to New England in 2000 to assume full control over football operations for the franchise, with the Hoodie then drafting Brady in the sixth round of his first draft.

And the rest is history.

I can’t remember the first three Super Bowl victories all too well other than my parents cooking a big Super Bowl Sunday feast and my brothers jumping up and down after Adam Vinatieri kicked championship-winning field goals.

At such a young age, I couldn’t fully grasp that Belichick and Brady had turned the Patriots into a dynasty. But as the years went by and I grew up, my strong interest in football started to form even despite the Super Bowl losses to the Giants in 2008 and 2012.

Whenever I’d stop by a local shopping center or grocery store, I’d see Brady jerseys and other Patriots apparel, including Belichick’s wildly popular but dull gray sweatshirt. Classmates and teachers always decked out in team garb on Fridays before big-game Sundays.

There was a good reason for this fascination towards the professional football team in Foxboro: This team knew how to win on the grandest stage with class.

The Patriots continued their winning ways into my late childhood and early adulthood.

Belichick hoisted the Lombardi Trophy my senior year of high school after the famous Malcolm Butler interception at the goal line against Seattle. In my sophomore year of college, James White dove across the goal line to cap off the improbable Super Bowl comeback against Atlanta. And just two years later, Brady and Belichick pulled it off again, beating the Rams in a defensive battle.

My dad and I made it to Gillette for at least one game a year. I’d drive to the stadium on non-game days just to peer through the gate at the field in awe every once in a while. I then worked as a ticket taker and usher during Brady’s last season in 2019.

These vivid memories came racing across my mind Thursday as I drove to Gillette Stadium to capture fan reactions to the bittersweet news that Belichick’s legendary tenure has come to an end.

While it could have been easy to dwell on the past four years, fans made it clear that they still view Belichick as a winner. His reputation as the greatest coach in NFL history remains firmly intact, they all asserted.

We were spoiled by the winning ways and all of the Duck Boat parades, and fans in the younger generation are about to experience what life is really like without Belichick and Brady for the first time.

In the immediate aftermath, it feels strange that the era is over, but as time goes on, we will look back and understand how good we had it.

One of my favorite memories of the Belichick era is when the Hoodie started using the mantra “Do Your Job.” That message came across to his players, but it also resonated with fans across the region.

More times than not when facing a hardship, Belichick’s message plays in my head. It inspires me to work my hardest and not to give up when life gets difficult. And I’m sure I’m not the only one.

Do your job. Thanks, Bill.

Bill Belichick’s face is seen on TV screens in the ProShop as he announces his departure as head coach of the New England Patriots. (Nancy Lane/Boston Herald)