It took almost a full year after his departure from the New England Patriots, but Bill Belichick has finally found a new coaching job. The 72-year-old has been hired by the University of North Carolina to become the 35th head coach in the school’s history, according to several media reports.
Belichick joining the Tar Heels is, frankly, a shocking development. A six-time Super Bowl winner as head coach of the Patriots, and two-time champion as the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator before that, he spent his entire coaching career spanning almost five decades at the NFL level.
Now, Belichick is headed to the ACC to coach against the likes of Clemson, Wake Forest, and Syracuse, among others. Time will tell whether or not he will have success in a new-look college landscape impacted heavily by NIL rules.
What he does bring to Chapel Hill, however, is an unmatched football acumen as well as a clear vision for the organization.
“If I was in a college program, the college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL,” Belichick recently told ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show. “It would be a professional program — training, nutrition, scheme, coaching, techniques that would transfer to the NFL. It would be an NFL program at a college level.”
Before joining the Tar Heels, Belichick spent 24 years coaching the Patriots. Helping establish the first dynasty of the NFL’s salary cap era, he and quarterback Tom Brady teamed up to bring six championships to New England.
Their unprecedented run of success came to an end in 2020, from which point on Belichick was unable to get the Patriots back on track. Over his final four years with the organization, it went just 29-38 with one playoff berth.
Following a 4-13 season in 2023, Belichick and the Patriots announced a mutual parting of the ways. Eleven months later, he has landed in a surprising destination.