Bill Belichick’s surprising move to UNC will bring an end to the coach’s brief but busy stint in sports media.
After Belichick didn’t land another NFL job following his firing from the Patriots in January, the six-time Super Bowl–winning head coach stayed in front of football fans through a half dozen weekly media gigs this past fall:
- The Pat McAfee Show: Appeared each Monday for a roughly 30-minute interview on the popular, and sometimes controversial, program that airs on ESPN and YouTube
- ManningCast: Cohosted during the first half of all 10 regular-season editions of the alternate Monday Night Football telecast on ESPN2 with Peyton and Eli Manning
- The Breakdown with Peyton and Belichick: Starred in ten 30-minute episodes on ESPN+ released each Friday, previewing that week’s upcoming ManningCast matchup
- Inside the NFL: Has been a full-time cast member on the long-running show that now airs on The CW on Friday nights
- Let’s Go!: Cohosted the SiriusXM show alongside Jim Gray, Peter King, and Raiders defensive end Maxx Crosby this season. Tom Brady, the show’s former cohost, made several appearances on the Monday evening program
- Coach with Bill Belichick: Digital show from Underdog Fantasy featuring breakdowns on various players and teams from Belichick, Michael Lombardi (who is joining him at UNC as the football GM), and former Patriots assistant coach Matt Patricia
Belichick showed a different side of himself through his various media jobs, offering more personality than he did while coaching in New England. “I learned it’s a lot of fun being in the media,” Belichick said Thursday at his introductory press conference in Chapel Hill. “That’s not bad.”
What’s Next?
The ManningCast and The Breakdown have only one more program scheduled around ESPN’s wild-card weekend NFL playoff game, but The Pat McAfee Show, Inside the NFL, Let’s Go!, and Coach were all set to keep using Belichick’s expertise through the end of the NFL season.
Spokespeople for ESPN, The CW, and SiriusXM were unable to comment about Belichick’s future at their respective companies Thursday, and Front Office Sports was unable to reach a representative for Underdog Fantasy.
Belichick could keep appearing in some of his media roles like The Pat McAfee Show or Let’s Go! to drum up recruiting interest for UNC. In fact, North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham told The News and Observer that Belichick would continue doing so.
However, continuing to participate in Inside the NFL and Coach, which are both heavily focused on analyzing NFL action, may be counterproductive to getting his feet under him at UNC.
