This past week, the North Carolina Tar Heels confirmed the appointment of Bill Belichick as their head coach as a replacement for the fired Mack Brown. The eight-time Super Bowl-winning Belichick has extensive NFL experience but none at the college football level.
The move has been met with skepticism in some quarters due to the changing landscape of college football but during Thursday’s segment of “Get Up,” ESPN analyst and NFL insider Adam Schefter revealed how contrarian yet thoughtful the former New England coach actually was.
NFL Insider Provides Insight Into Bill Belichick’s Thought Process
Schefter opened up about Belichick and his thoughts around why the legendary NFL head coach ultimately decided to head to North Carolina.
“There is uncertainty about whether or not he would get a head coaching job at the NFL level at this time,” said Schefter.
“And he at his core is a coach and wants to coach. He can be doing all the ManningCasts he wants. He can be doing all the Pat McAfee Shows he wants. The fact of the matter is he loves coaching. North Carolina offered certainty. And I don’t think Bill Belichick goes into anything randomly without thought. He has it well thought out. He has it researched. He has it planned. He knows just how he will attack it and what he will bring to the University.
“So, when the school idea comes up, some people might not think it’s a natural but Bill Belichick always has been willing to go against the grain, he is a contrarian. When everybody is going one way, he’s happy to go another.”
"I don't think Bill Belichick goes into anything randomly, without thought. He has it well thought out."@AdamSchefter breaks down how Bill Belichick ended up as the head coach of the University of North Carolina football team. pic.twitter.com/gogOtupeKo
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) December 12, 2024
Bill Belichick to UNC Divides Opinion
The Bill Belichick move to UNC garnered a mixed reception and former NFL star Cam Newton was skeptical whether the move would work during Friday’s segment of “First Take.”
“I don’t think he’d fit,” Newton said. “And in large part because of this era that we’re living in with the entitlement kids. Now, the thing that I admired the most about Coach Belichick was that he was an astute student of the game. He was almost like an almanac right, and he would teach the sport of football to everybody. From trainers to kickers to punters.
“Everybody just had to understand the point of emphasis that he was trying to make,” Newton added. “I don’t know if that works for a 17-year-old, five-star recruit that feels like he’s supposed to get even more money from NIL, and this type of attitude when even in the playoffs, you’ve seen the documentaries, you’ve seen former players talk about it, he believes in practice and I mean practicing hard.”
.@CameronNewton weighs in on how Bill Belichick would fit in the current CFB model ✍️ pic.twitter.com/LyFezFO2Vo
— First Take (@FirstTake) December 6, 2024
During Wednesday’s segment of “Get Up,” ESPN analyst Paul Finebaum was upbeat about the Belichick to UNC move even predicting a possible college football playoff appearance should certain conditions be met.
“North Carolina was already a good program, not a great program,” Finebaum said. “But a program that could get to a championship game as they did a couple of years ago. Now they can easily, and I mean easily, get to the CFP because this year — we just got through talking about the ACC getting two teams in the Playoff.
“All you have to do is have a good season and maybe get to the championship game and in that league, he can do that.”
Regardless of whether his North Carolina tenure is successful or not, Bill Belichick is one of the biggest coaching hires in the history of college football and he will definitely bring eyes to the Tar Heels.