Bill Belichick's coaching future has been a subject of debate and discussion ever since he and the New England Patriots parted ways back in January.
No one would be surprised if Belichick is coaching somewhere in 2025. However, few could have predicted when he left the Patriots that his next job might be in college football and not the NFL.
Belichick, 72, reportedly interviewed for the vacant University of North Carolina head football coach job last week. He confirmed Monday on ESPN's The Pat McAfee Show that he's talked to the UNC chancellor about the position. Belichick also said that if he got the job, he'd run it like an NFL program.
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What should we make of this situation? What are the chances he actually takes the UNC job? Our Patriots insider Tom E. Curran weighed in during Monday's edition of NBC Sports Boston show Arbella Early Edition.
"He went through a job cycle last year in which he didn't get an offer and he got one interview. And whether he rebuffed the other opportunities or not, the fact that Mike Lombardi, his close confidant, said that Bill understands that the layers at the professional level are such ... that you can never really run your own show -- I wonder if Atlanta was an indicator of that," Curran said, as seen in the video player above.
"He had a free run to get that job and then was (crossed) off once it got kicked upstairs and people started saying, 'I don't know if we wanna do this.'
"I think the likelihood -- if he is being pragmatic, which I think he always is -- are probably better than 50/50. If he's being realistic, he is not going to get a job offer that in two years in the NFL is going to land him (Don) Shula's (all-time NFL coaching wins) record, which I always thought was a little overrated.
"People say, 'No, no, he wants it. He needs it.' I can't imagine that he wants it and needs it. People recognize him as the greatest coach ever already."
Belichick seems to have genuine interest in taking the North Carolina job, but whether he ultimately takes it -- assuming it's offered to him -- remains to be seen.
"Are we at the point now where if he doesn't take the job, it's almost a little embarrassing for him?" NBC Sports Boston Patriots insider Phil Perry said on Monday's Arbella Early Edition.
"I mean, you've got Adam Schefter out there tweeting pictures from the '50s of Bill Belichick as a small boy at North Carolina during his dad's stint as an assistant there at North Carolina. You've got Bill Belichick himself talking about what it would be (like) for him to run a college football program really openly. I know he qualified it beforehand saying 'If' ... but then goes chapter-and-verse in terms of what his philosophies would be as a coach.
"It's clear he's interested. I don't think this is a ploy. I don't think this is a leverage play for other teams in the NFL or a way to get them to give him a call and say, 'Hey Bill, don't take that job. We want you. End of January, you're our first call.' I don't think this is that, because he spent so much time apparently going back and forth with the school. It feels like it would be quite a significant waste of time if that's how he really felt."
The Tar Heels went 6-6 last season and finished 12th out of 16 teams in the ACC. They fired Mack Brown -- the winningest coach in program history -- last month. The last time North Carolina won a postseason game was the 2019 Military Bowl.
The program could definitely use a boost, and Belichick would generate plenty of headlines and interest. He's the greatest head coach in the history of the sport, after all. But Belichick likes to do things his way. Would he have full control of the entire program? It'll be fascinating to see how this entire situation plays out.