Shortly after the University of North Carolina announced Bill Belichick as its new head football coach, the Tar Heels’ Instagram account shared a picture of the famous NFL coach when he was no older than 3, sitting in the UNC bleachers.
“Welcome home, Coach,” the post says, bringing back memories of when young Belichick followed his father, Steve, who worked as a UNC assistant from 1953 to 1955.
As news spread about his hiring, reactions from the NFL were filled with excitement, surprise, and disbelief. Belichick, the most successful coach in NFL history with six Super Bowl wins as head coach of the New England Patriots and two more as a defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, is now stepping into the challenge of college football after agreeing to a five-year deal with UNC.
“I will have to see him on the sideline to believe that’s happening,” Washington Commanders offensive coordinator Kliff Kingsbury joked. “We’ll see how the NFL job search goes and all that. I will have to see him on the sideline coaching in Chapel Hill to believe that’s happening.”
While Belichick’s expertise and success in football are unquestioned, some debate whether his coaching style will be effective in the college game. Some of his former players believe his approach can work at any level.
One such player is Tom Brady, the quarterback who helped Belichick win all six of his Super Bowls with New England.
“Congrats, coach. The Tar Heel way is about to become a thing,” Brady posted on Instagram Thursday, referring to “The Patriot Way” he helped popularize in New England.
Some people warned that the players Belichick brings to the UNC program should be ready to face tough challenges like never before.
“I think he’s going to do good,” said Patriots receiver Kendrick Bourne, who played under Belichick for his final three years in New England. “Bill does a good job of developing players, developing young men. I think it will be a challenge for the young man. He’s a tough coach, which we all know. But I think it will be good for certain players that have the right mindset.”
Bourne’s advice? Always stay mentally focused.
“Just stay tough,” Bourne said. “Have a gritty mindset because it’s not going to be easy, but in the end, it’s going to be worth it.”
While some questioned why UNC would hire Belichick after parting ways with 73-year-old Mack Brown this season, current Patriots coach Jerod Mayo believes that good coaching has no age limit.
“To me, it doesn’t matter if you’re a young man or a 10-year vet in the league, he’s a great teacher,” said Mayo, who played under Belichick for eight seasons, winning a Super Bowl during the 2014 season, and succeeded him as head coach after last season. “I wish him nothing but the best. It doesn’t really matter what level, I think he’ll be successful.”
NFL Hall of Famer Deion Sanders, who is new to the college game after coaching at Jackson State for three seasons before moving to Colorado in 2023, welcomed Belichick as a competitor.
“Coach Bill Belichick is a coaches coach to all us Coaches along with my man coach (Nick) Saban,” Sanders posted on X. “They’re game changers and they know how to move people forward. I know this is a great thing for College Football & for North Carolina. God bless u Coach, if you’re happy I am 2.”
But former Patriots defensive back Je’Rod Cherry wonders how Belichick’s old-school coaching methods will be received today, as hard coaching is not always accepted as it once was.
“You can’t coach hard anymore,” Cherry said on ESPN GameNight. “You can’t yell at guys, curse at guys and that’s what he does. You are going to have to find guys who are going to accept that brand of coaching and will accept someone constantly getting on them.”
New York Jets safety Jalen Mills, who played for Belichick with the Patriots from 2021 to 2023, said he was surprised by the move.
“I thought he definitely was going to try to wait it out until after the season and come back to the NFL,” Mills said. “But I think it’s gonna be a good thing for him because now you get a guy who has won and, of course, he’s going to try to turn that program around.
But he also gets to connect with the younger generation and kind of modify and adjust to this younger generation of football on top of what he already knows. So I think that’ll just help him as far as coaching. And then, of course, he’ll give those guys, those young guys, structure as far as what the NFL looks like, too.”
It’s still unclear how much Belichick’s coaching style will differ in college, but he suggested that it would be quite similar to his NFL approach.
Before agreeing to the UNC job, Belichick discussed his potential approach to coaching at the college level during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN.
“The program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that have 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.”
