It’s official. Bill Belichick has accepted the head coach position of the North Carolina Tar Heels. He succeeds Mack Brown, who led UNC in seven seasons to six bowl berths, including an Orange Bowl, and mentored 18 NFL Draft picks.
Belichick will return to the sidelines after mutually parting ways with the Patriots on Jan. 23, 2024. While he did an interview for the Atlanta Falcons for the 2024 season, nothing materialized. Many thought he would return to the NFL in 2025, so the move to college football surprised many, including one of his former players.
Bill Belichick’s Former Patriots Star “Stunned” To Hear His Former Coach Heading to UNC
Damien Woody, who played under Belichick as an offensive guard for the Patriots between 2000-03 and won two Super Bowls, was “stunned” to learn the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach was going to UNC on a five-year deal. He reacted to the news on Wednesday’s edition of “Get Up.”
“I was stunned. Stunned, because we’re talking about the greatest coach in NFL history — going to college, too. It just never crossed my mind, especially knowing that Bill wants the all-time wins record. I think he’s about 14 wins away from it,” Woody said.
“But once I started thinking about it, a lot of things began to make sense. Bill Belichick is a life coach. His father was a coach, and he’s been coaching all his life. He wants to coach — it doesn’t matter whether it’s in the NFL or college.”
.@damienwoody, who played for the Patriots and Bill Belichick, joins Get Up to weigh in on his former coach going to the college game. pic.twitter.com/avQWlRYJff
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 12, 2024
Woody also reasoned why Belichick might have opted not to return to the NFL.
“Here’s the thing about what’s going on in the NFL right now: the key word is collaborate. Many organizations now want collaboration,” Woody added. “But Bill Belichick is not a collaborator. You don’t bring in a six-time Super Bowl champion, the greatest coach in NFL history, to collaborate with an owner or GM. Anywhere Bill goes, he’s going to want to run the show.
“And if you look at the college landscape, head coaches run the show there — that’s what they do. College football now, more than ever, is starting to resemble pro football. NIL collectives act as a sort of salary cap, and the transfer portal feels like free agency. So, if you’re Bill Belichick and you’re not getting the opportunities you want in the NFL, why not take a shot at the college level?”
Bill Belichick Not Too Concerned Missing Chance To Break Don Shula’s All-Time NFL
Arguably the most successful coach of all time, Bill Belichick, was just 14 wins shy of Don Shula’s all-time NFL record of 347 wins. Had he waited out the NFL regular season, he might have found himself back in the pros and had the chance to close the gap on the all-time record.
However, as reported by ESPN’s Seth Wickersham, while Belichick wanted to break Shula’s record, he termed it wasn’t “essential.”
“He told confidants that Shula’s record mattered to him, but it wasn’t the essential thing,” Wickersham reported Thursday. “It wasn’t why he has worked hours that have come with a steep personal price. He has always competed as if his self-worth was tied to the result. Losses took on a life of their own.”
College football is different than NFL in a lot of ways. NIL, recruiting, and leading unexperienced lads will hit Belichick differently, but he seems determined to learn new things.