Bill Belichick knows the importance of building a strong team from top to bottom. His success in the NFL and with the New England Patriots speaks for itself. While he’s never coached at the college level and will have a less money to work with, the 73-year-old still wants to balance out his Tar Heels roster.
“Offensive and defensive lines are important,” Belichick told reporters after Wednesday’s practice. “You’ve got to have that. You’ve got to have a quarterback, you’ve got to have somebody who can rush the passer, you need somebody that can cover and you need somebody that can score. The guards don’t score. So somebody’s got to be able to score a point. It’s not just that. But if you don’t have that, it makes everything else a lot harder.
“In the end, you want to build a balanced team that can win on offense, defense and special teams because at some point, you’re going to make the plays from each of those units to win critical situations and close games,” he continued. “If they can come through, you’re going to win. And if they can’t, you’re not. It’s not just that, but that’s a critical part of it. Yes, there’s a lot of emphasis there. Like, a dollar figure, no. We don’t have that.”
As he prepares for his first season on the UNC sidelines, Belichick is showing the Tar Heels old Patriots film.
Belichick was used to working with a salary cap when was the coach and the general manager of the Patriots. But things are different in college athletics.
After the House vs. NCAA settlement, schools now have $20.5 million to allocate to their sports programs. Football will receive about 75%, which is about $15-16 million for UNC.
The amount of money is expected to increase each year, and college athletes can also get paid via NIL.
The Tar Heels coach revealed he and general manager Mike Lombardi are on the same page when it comes to how they want to spend the money in order to build a strong team.
“I think that’s more of a long-term question,” Belichick told reporters. “Right now, we’re kind of in-between in the revenue. What it’s going to be next year is a little bit different than what it is now.
“Generally speaking, you want to try to get good players. I wouldn’t want to lose a good player over a few thousand dollars because, say, we were over our budget,” he later added. “If he’s that good of a player, we’d give him a little bit of the extra money to get them and figure it out somewhere else.”
It’s unclear how UNC will perform in its first year with a new coach, but the 2025 ACC preseason poll has the Tar Heels finishing at No. 8. They finished 13th in the ACC last season with a 6-7 overall record.
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