Winners, losers of Bill Belichick’s big move to North Carolina
In a stunning turn of events – one that seemed farfetched even when the possibility surfaced in recent days – legendary NFL head coach Bill Belichick has accepted the top job at the University of North Carolina.
Belichick, 72, who has no previous coaching experience at the college level, agreed Wednesday to a five-year deal with the Tar Heels, pending approval by the school’s board of trustees. The move comes nearly a year after he and the New England Patriots ended their partnership after 24 seasons and six Super Bowl titles.
‘I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill. I grew up around college football with my Dad and treasured those times,’ Belichick said in a statement.
‘I have always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.’
It didn’t take long for #ChapelBill to start popping on social media feeds.
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Belichick had been a leading candidate to take over the Atlanta Falcons earlier this year, interviewing multiple times with a team he famously vanquished in Super Bowl 51, but that post went to Raheem Morris. Belichick has had no known talks with other NFL clubs since – even though the Chicago Bears, New Orleans Saints and New York Jets have initiated searches for replacements in 2025 after firing their coaches in recent weeks.
Now he pivots to a completely new domain, ironically one that sent ex-UNC QB Drake Maye to the Patriots in this year’s NFL draft.
What comes next will be appointment viewing for fans of the college – and, to a lesser extent perhaps – pro games. For now, these parties seem to be the initial winners and losers of this seismic football development:
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WINNERS
ACC
It’s been something of a rocky 2024 season for the Atlantic Coast Conference, which saw a seemingly formidable Florida State team that was in the national championship chase a year ago disintegrate almost instantly. And while the conference managed to get Clemson and SMU into the first 12-team CFP tournament, they are the lowest-seeded entries – both qualifying only because Clemson, the lone three-loss squad in the field, beat the Mustangs in the ACC title game.
However, despite being an NCAA newbie, Belichick’s arrival is sure to give the ACC, widely perceived as the weakest of the Power Four conferences from a football perspective, a shot in the arm – at least in terms of public perception and interest. When and whether the wins start rolling in are great unknowns. But after a 6-6 campaign in 2024, the Tar Heels should see their national profile elevated in a manner similar to what Deion Sanders has done for Colorado – and that should mean greater exposure and attention for the conference at large, too.
Don Shula
The Pro Football Hall of Famer died in 2020 as the winningest coach in NFL history with 347 victories, playoffs included – a standard Shula set following his retirement from the Miami Dolphins after the 1995 season. It was widely believed that Belichick, whose 333 wins rank second to Shula, wanted to return to an NFL sideline to notch at least the 15 additional wins he needed to take ownership of the record.
Tom Brady
Though “BB” didn’t give the notion much oxygen, there was also at least an outside perception that he hoped to win another Super Bowl without help from Brady, the Patriots’ longtime quarterback. The duo won a record six Lombardi Trophies during their 20-year run in Foxborough. However Brady, who left New England as a free agent in 2020, added a seventh ring – more than any single NFL franchise – after joining the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Like Shula, it appears TB12’s historic achievement is also safe … at least from Belichick.
Michael Jordan
As if there isn’t enough demand for Air Jordan apparel, the legendary Tar Heels hooper and business mogul should only benefit if the football team rises to prominence with his Jumpman logo attached to it. Just when you thought you’d seen it all – Jordan Brand hoodies.
UNC football
It’s generally been a relevant program throughout its history, one that’s sent many notable players to the NFL – Belichick favorite Lawrence Taylor leading the list – but never a bona fide national power. The Tar Heels only have one season with double-digit victories this century and have never reached the CFP. Obviously no guarantee Belichick can raise Carolina to that upper tier, but that will clearly be the expectation amid what will doubtless be heightened interest in the operation, not only from prospective players but also potential assistants who might want to work for Belichick and, if nothing else, benefit from his experience … and maybe connections.
‘This is an exciting day for Carolina football and our University,” said chancellor Lee H. Roberts. ‘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.’
Bill Belichick
This year was the first he hadn’t been employed by a football team since the Baltimore Colts hired him as a special assistant in 1975. To say Belichick is a football lifer is an understatement. He grew up watching his father, Steve, coach and scout (including a stint at UNC) – his dad also the gateway to Belichick’s longtime love of the Naval Academy given a childhood spent in Annapolis, Maryland. Now, after nearly a year dabbling in various NFL-centric media endeavors, Belichick will go back to school to tackle perhaps the biggest football challenge he’s ever embraced – certainly given the focus that will be on him and assumption he’ll learn the college game quickly, if on the fly.
LOSERS
Bill Belichick
Has he bitten off more than he can chew? Will he have buyer’s remorse in a month – especially if, say, the top job for the New York Giants, the NFL franchise that rocket-fueled his coaching arc and with whom Belichick won two Super Bowls as Hall of Famer Bill Parcells’ defensive coordinator, becomes available? Is he really wired to collaborate with the teenagers and twentysomethings he’ll have to court and keep happy in the NIL and transfer portal environment given it will be much easier for them to drop Belichick than it was for NFL players who were under contract? Is a guy who “recruited” for years by offering – even if unspoken – the hope of Super Bowl glory truly going to connect with youngsters who will have far more competing priorities than money and championships?
And given the learning curve he’s about to encounter, can Belichick possibly fulfill the hopes of a Tar Heels fan base that is certainly looking for far more than invites to the Duke’s Mayo Bowl – to say nothing of the mandate to beat Duke after suffering a loss to the hated Blue Devils in 2024. Belichick wants to coach and wants to win, as has long been his brand, but he could run a serious chance of incurring late-career tarnish if this doesn’t go well after his lackluster post-Brady seasons in New England.
UNC football
What have they really signed up for here? The Heels have gone way out on a Carolina pine limb to make a splashy, expensive hire with no college track record. And how much program-building can a septuagenarian, even one as accomplished as Belichick, achieve in what will be, by definition, a limited window? Also, what sacrifices, concessions and consequences – and there will certainly be some as components of this hire, many assumptions already being made about a potential succession plan involving Belichick’s son, Steve – is UNC agreeing to, particularly any that could reverberate well after Belichick is no longer on the job?
Hubert Davis
Carolina has always been a basketball school. But what’s long been the university’s signature athletic program and one of the country’s most popular nationally might just have to play second fiddle in Chapel Hill … at least for a minute. And, sure, maybe Belichick’s arrival offers some brief cover for Davis, who’s now in Year 4 after taking over for beloved predecessor Roy Williams and currently scuffling along with a 5-4 record that just dropped the Heels out of USA TODAY Sports’ Top 25 Coaches Poll. Yet Davis certainly can’t ignore the fact that athletic director Bubba Cunningham has signaled the school’s championship aspirations with Belichick’s hiring – while also telegraphing a clear pledge to football, the sport that is the flagship and primary sports revenue generator for most American universities.
‘We know that college athletics is changing, and those changes require new and innovative thinking,’ Cunningham said. ‘Bill Belichick is a football legend, and hiring him to lead our program represents a new approach that will ensure Carolina football can evolve, compete and win – today and in the future. At Carolina, we believe in providing championship opportunities and the best experience possible for our student-athletes, and Coach Belichick shares that commitment. We are excited to welcome him to Chapel Hill.’
As for the hardcourt? It’s been nearly eight years since Williams won UNC’s most recent basketball crown, and Davis’ receding high-water mark came at the end of the 2022 season when the Heels – thanks to players largely imported by Williams – beat Duke in a Final Four semifinal that doubled as Blue Devils legend Mike Krzyzewski’s final game. Davis hasn’t won a game of significance since – at least by this program’s standards – and Belichick’s presence could well amplify the pressure that wasn’t going to relent at the Dean Dome under any circumstances.
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Belichick’s media ventures
Whether it was contributing to former NFL adversary Peyton Manning’s projects, on ‘Inside the NFL’ or even his spots on ‘The Pat McAfee Show,’ Belichick did provide unique football insights – and probably stronger opinions and humorous asides in many cases than many would have expected (looking at you, New York Jets) – during his coaching gap year. Presumably, he’ll be winding down those temp jobs almost immediately, and you can forget about any revelatory observations into whatever the Super Bowl 59 matchup winds up being.
Dabo Swinney
Fresh off his latest – if somewhat unexpected – conference title, Clemson’s head coach has lorded over the football side of the ACC with infrequent challenges for the better part of 15 years. But the Tigers haven’t been the same kind of national championship-caliber powerhouse since QB Trevor Lawrence’s departure following the 2020 season. Now the stakes have been raised anew in a year when the conference had already undergone rampant change amid the expansion that lured schools like SMU. Whether or not North Carolina is a clear and present football danger in 2025 remains to be seen, but there’s little doubt that Swinney’s job – as it pertains to regional recruiting, national recruiting and simply winning sufficiently at an elite level – just got more complicated and, likely, difficult.
The NFL
If this was the back side of a now-completed Urban Meyer swap, the deal doesn’t feel equitable for the NFL. Football exile is probably something of an overstatement as it relates to Belichick, but is the league really better off without the man who has been its most identifiable coach – and archvillain – since the turn of the century? After being passed over by Atlanta, Belichick pretty clearly didn’t want to be left at the altar again – and there’s no guarantee he would have even gotten a serious look for any of the jobs that have materialized or will during the upcoming coaching cycle. Whether or not Belichick has legitimately departed the pros on his own terms, it does feel like something of a shame that he won’t continue chasing Shula while trying to push another franchise toward Super Bowl glory in the waning stages of his largely incomparable career.
This story has been updated with new information.
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Follow USA TODAY Sports’ Nate Davis on X, formerly Twitter, @ByNateDavis.
