Bill Belichick is on to Chapel Hill.
The legendary NFL coach is “finalizing a deal” to become the next head coach at North Carolina, according to ESPN’s Adam Schefter. The former Patriots coach is expected to sign a three-year deal worth $30 million, according to The Athletic. That $10 million annual salary would tie him with Alabama’s Kalen DeBoer for the fifth-highest pay among college football coaches.
The 72-year-old will replace Mack Brown, who had two stints at UNC that totaled 16 seasons. Belichick is just a year younger than Brown. Belichick’s father, Steve, was an assistant coach at the school from 1953 to 1955 before embarking on a 33-year stint at Navy.
Belichick, who has never coached at the college level, had multiple meetings with school officials over the past couple of weeks before accepting the job. Skeptics pointed to Belichick’s disciplinarian style and lack of college experience, especially in the modern era of NIL (name, image, and likeness) payments and the transfer portal. But those two elements have also bridged the gap between the college and professional landscapes, which could be a plus for Belichick, who also served as the Patriots’ GM while coaching.
On Pat McAfee’s show Monday, Belichick elaborated on his vision for a college program, should he be given the chance to run one.
“If I was in a college program, the college program would be a pipeline to the NFL,” Belichick said, emphasizing if. “It would be a professional program with training, nutrition, scheme, and coaching techniques that would transfer to the NFL. … I feel very confident that I have the contacts in the NFL to pave the way for those players who would have the ability to compete in the NFL. They would be ready for it. It would be an NFL program, but not at the NFL level.
“It would be geared toward developing time management, discipline, structure, and life skills, regardless of whether it’s for the NFL or somewhere in business.”
Belichick has spent the 2024 season working in various football media roles after a 24-year run in New England, where he won six Super Bowls alongside Tom Brady.
This is a developing story and will be updated.
