On Wednesday Bill Belichick was named the next football head coach at the University of North Carolina.
What started as one of the biggest surprise reports of the year in all of football has now become reality. On Wednesday evening, ESPN's Adam Schefter reported that former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has been hired as the new head coach of the University of North Carolina football program.
The move comes about a week after the initial report of Belichick speaking with UNC officials. Those reports picked up momentum throughout the week, with reported sticking points involving budgeting resources and the structure of the program.
This is Belichick’s first coaching job since the Patriots parted ways with him back in January after 24 years that included a 266-121 record and six Super Bowl wins.
Prior to his time with the Patriots, Belichick was an NFL lifer from his first job as an assistant for the then-Baltimore Colts in 1975. Now, he moves onto his first gig at the college level.
Of course, recent developments with the NCAA have the college game resembling the NFL more than ever before. That’s something Belichick plans to take advantage of with his new job.
"If I was in a college program, the college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL," Belichick said on the Pat McAfee Show earlier this week. "It would be a professional program: training, nutrition, scheme, coaching and techniques that would transfer to the NFL."
In order to do that, Belichick will need to build out an NFL staff. That staff is expected to include multiple former Patriots coaches including Bill’s son Steve Belichick, who could reportedly be named “head coach in waiting.”
