After nearly 50 years coaching in the NFL, Bill Belichick is going to try his hand at something new.
Belichick has been hired as the next coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, the school announced Wednesday.
“I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill,” Belichick said in a statement released by the school. “I grew up around college football with my Dad and treasured those times. I have always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.”
Belichick – who has never coached on the collegiate level – agreed to a five-year deal to replace Mack Brown who was fired after the season.
“This is an exciting day for Carolina football and our University,” North Carolina chancellor Lee H. Roberts said. “Carolina is committed to excellence and to creating an opportunity to succeed in everything we do, from the classroom to the field of competition. 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.”
Belichick was let go by the Patriots in after the 2023 season after the Patriots went 4-13. He did not land any of the NFL openings this past offseason and spent the past year working in television.
At 72, it’s likely Belichick has coached his last NFL game. If so, he ends his reign as arguably the greatest coach in NFL history, with six Super Bowls as a head coach and two more as an assistant. Belichick is currently 3rd on the all time win list, 14 wins shy of Don Shula’s all-time career victories record.
Talk of Belichick going to UNC really heated up earlier this week and Belichick confirmed that he was tlaking to the school on Monday during an interview on “The Pat McAfee Show.” On the program he gave his vision of what he would do were he to ever run a college program.
“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 said.”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 and an education that would get the players ready for their career after football, whether that was the end of their college career or the end of their pro career.”
