Bill Belichick named head football coach at North Carolina

By Jill Martin, CNN

(CNN) — Bill Belichick is on to UNC.

The long-time NFL coach was named the next head football coach at the University of North Carolina, the school announced on Wednesday.

Belichick and the school agreed to a five-year deal pending approval of the University’s Board of Trustees and Board of Governors.

School chancellor Lee H. Roberts called it an “exciting day for Carolina Football and our University.”

“Carolina is committed to excellence and to creating an opportunity to succeed in everything we do, from the classroom to the field of competition,” Roberts said in a statement. “I know after speaking with Coach Belichick that he shares that commitment. His legacy speaks for itself, and we look forward to working together on the next chapter of Carolina Football.”

This will be the first coaching job for Belichick, who has won eight Super Bowls as a coach (six as the New England Patriots head coach and two as a New York Giants assistant), since he and the Patriots parted ways in January.

In addition to 24 seasons as the Patriots head coach, Belichick was head coach of the Cleveland Browns for the 1991-1995 seasons.

The Tar Heels were looking to fill their head coaching vacancy after the school announced Mack Brown would not return next season following UNC’s loss to in-state rival North Carolina State. The Tar Heels are 6-6 and will face Connecticut in the Fenway Bowl on December 28.

“We know that college athletics is changing, and those changes require new and innovative thinking,” director of athletics Bubba Cunningham said. “Bill Belichick is a football legend and hiring him to lead our program represents a new approach that will ensure Carolina Football can evolve, compete and win – today and in the future. At Carolina, we believe in providing championship opportunities and the best experience possible for our student-athletes, and Coach Belichick shares that commitment. We are excited to welcome him to Chapel Hill.”

Belichick, 72, has been spending this football season away from coaching, but he has remained busy. He instead has had multiple roles in the media and – despite his previous prickly history when addressing reporters as a head coach – has been engaging and informative in those various roles.

On Wednesday, Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, who served as North Carolina’s starting quarterback in 2022 and 2023, was asked about the possibility of Belichick leading the program. “I think coach Belichick would love Chapel Hill, and Chapel Hill is a great spot,” he said.

“Coach Belichick, defensive mind, he’ll get that defense rolling and it’s a fun spot. I think it’s a great spot, a great coaching job.”

Belichick affirmed Monday that he had spoken to UNC about its football head coaching job.

“I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Chancellor (Lee) Roberts,” Belichick said to Pat McAfee on ESPN. “We’ve had a couple of good conversations, so we’ll see how it goes.”

When McAfee asked for more information about the UNC talks – including the duration – Belichick declined to give details.

“Let’s just leave it at that, Pat,” Belichick joked. “I don’t want to give out too much information. I want to get my press conference aura back.”

When reports started to circulate that Belichick was interviewing with UNC, the news sent the sports world abuzz.

But as the days went on, some in sports media started to back the idea of Belichick in a college setting, with Sports Illustrated publishing a story with the headline, “Why Bill Belichick Coaching North Carolina Makes Sense.”

On Monday on ESPN, Belichick said he thinks there are a lot of football programs that are being structured similarly to NFL teams but that it’s “a little different version of the NFL model.”

“There are a lot of changes in the college landscape,” Belichick said. “I’m not going to sit here and say I’m an expert on all of them, but I think it’s a little bit of everybody’s trying to find not only their way but what’s best for their individual situation.”

Belichick was also emphatic when he said on McAfee’s program, “Let me put this in capital letters. IF, I-F, I was in a college program, the college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players who had the ability to play in the NFL. … It would be an NFL program at a college level.”

However, Belichick’s ties to UNC cannot be ignored.

His father, Steve, was an assistant football coach for the Tar Heels from 1953-55. He would later go on to coach more than three decades at the United States Naval Academy.

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