Bill Belichick has officially made the leap from a life in the 撸先生AV to the collegiate ranks, taking over as head coach of the University of North Carolina.
With six Super Bowl rings earned as a head coach, it would seem Belichick had nothing left to achieve. To the surprise of many, he had one primary item remaining on his checklist: prove he can do it in college, too.
"I've always wanted to coach in college football. It just never really worked out," Belichick said on Thursday during his introductory press conference. "Had some good years in the 撸先生AV, so that was OK, but this is really kind of a dream come true."
Belichick comes from a football family and even has a tie to the Tar Heels: His late father, Steve, served as an assistant at UNC in the 1950s.
He's joining a landscape that is vastly different from the one in which his father existed 70 years ago, though, taking over a program in the new world of name, image and likeness deals and the Wild West created by the transfer portal, which opened on Monday.
It might end up being the ideal fit. Belichick made his name as a football czar in New England, not only coaching the Patriots but also serving as the team's de facto general manager for 24 seasons.
He'll be expected to operate similarly for a program that is in need of a captain to guide them through these uncharted waters. In order to do so, Belichick intends to assemble an 撸先生AV-level staff, bringing an air of professionalism to Chapel Hill with the goal of building a championship-contending program capable of winning the Atlantic Coast Conference and more.
"On the staff, we'll hire the best coaches we can hire," Belichick said. "I want to do everything I can to help this program and make it as strong as possible, so we'll hire the best ones we can get."
That means Belichick will likely fill out his staff with 撸先生AV veterans. He's already bringing former executive Mike Lombardi with him to Chapel Hill to be the program's general manager, and Belichick said on Thursday he will retain interim coach (and former Browns coach) Freddie Kitchens on staff. It's safe to expect they won't be the only former lieutenants to move to North Carolina.
"I've already had a lot of people contact me. There will certainly be a strong presence of 撸先生AV people on the staff," Belichick said. "I think that's a certainty, not only on the staff but in the training area. At the same time, looking for the best people we can get for Carolina. That fit, I think, is a little different than what an 撸先生AV team would have, but we'll see."
The top collegiate programs already operate as pseudo-professional outfits. It only takes a quick review of some of the exorbitant new facilities constructed by the likes of Texas, Oregon, Clemson, Georgia, Alabama and others to understand that significant money is being pumped into the blueblood schools with the same goal in mind: contend for a national title.
The opening of the NIL era and transfer portal have also created an annual free agency period that won't be foreign to Belichick. College football is even shadowing the 撸先生AV in how they've changed rules, implementing radio communication and a two-time out for the first time in 2024.
Simply, the adjustment shouldn't be nearly as significant for Belichick as it might have been a few years earlier. That made him take the opportunity seriously, leading him to North Carolina.
"Here's what I would say: College kind of came to me this year," Belichick explained when asked when the idea of coaching in college first occurred to him.
"I didn't necessarily go and seek it out. I had many coaches, probably a couple dozen coaches, talk to me and say, 'Can we come down and talk to you about these things?' Let's call it the salary cap of pro football relative to college football. The headsets, the green dot, the two-minute warning, the tablets on the sideline. Those were all rules changes this year for college football that were either or the same or similar to what we had in the 撸先生AV. These coaches said, 'Hey coach can we talk to you about how you did this? How you did that? How did you use this?' 鈥 As those conversations started and then the personnel conversations started relative to salary cap and how you spend whatever the allotment of money you have."
Belichick continued: "I'd say that started to make me a lot more aware of it because the first thing I would have to do is learn about it. 鈥 In the end, long answer to a short question here. 鈥 As you learn different things about different programs you start to put it all together. There is some common threads and there's some variables."
Belichick arrives with a properly high level of fanfare -- he was presented on Thursday a new North Carolina hoodie with the sleeves cut off, of course -- and will be expected to produce.
At the age of 72, Belichick is the oldest coach in college football, but unlike his former 撸先生AV assistant -- legendary Alabama coach Nick Saban -- Belichick certainly doesn't seem interested in walking away any time soon, not even for an 撸先生AV job, telling reporters: "I didn't come here to leave."
After spending more than two decades chasing Lombardi Trophies in the 撸先生AV, he has a new goal: elevate North Carolina to new heights. Considering his lineage, it would only be fitting.
"It was most important," Belichick said of his ties to UNC. "All the things that the University of North Carolina stands for: the academics, the cultural, the research, just the whole. Everything it stands for."
Belichick on Thursday even made sure to score his first points in his new school's rivalry.
"One story I always heard was, 'Billy's first words were: Beat Duke,'" the Tar Heels coach said. "So, full circle."
