NORTH CAROLINA — ”I always wanted to coach college football,” Bill Belichick said at a press conference Thursday at UNC Chapel Hill’s Kenan Stadium. “This is really a dream come true.”
He was formally announced as the Tar Heel’s football coach from Chancellor Lee H. Roberts, UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham and Michael Lombardi, former NFL executive who will become UNC’s general manager. The UNC Board of Trustees approved the contract in a five-year deal Thursday, reportedly with Belichick earning $10 million a year. The Board of Governors also have to sign off on it.
“It’s always a great day to be a Tar Heel, but today is an especially great day,” Roberts said.
Belichick, 72, held up his father’s sweatshirt, Steve, who once was a UNC assistant coach from 1953 to 1955. He said he always heard from his father: “Billy’s first words were: ‘Beat Duke.’”
A former eight-time Super Bowl champion — six with the New England Patriots, two with the New York Giants — Belichick has the most winning Super Bowls and is the second most winning coach in NFL history. He called his arrival at UNC a full-circle moment, remembering he would often scout games with his father at the university.
“You had one shot to look at every play — that’s it,” he said, adding technology wasn’t available to produce playbacks. “He had his pad and that’s all he worked off of … he taught me how to watch football.”
Belichick is revered for coaching the NFL’s GOAT quarterback, Tom Brady, for 24 years with the Patriots. He pointed out how Brady was a “fourth-string quarterback his rookie year.”
“Development of players is something I strongly support,” Belichick said.
The coach added he spoke with UNC players earlier in the day to begin getting to know them in order to better mentor them and help build their careers professionally. He also praised the support system already in place from ex-players and staff of the university.
In the audience was former Carolina Panther and UNC alum Julius Peppers, selected this year to be inducted into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. Last year, UNC also churned out the NFL’s number three draft pick, Drake Maye.
Belichick said as an NFL coach he scouted the school before and pointed to the ‘80s, when UNC’s football program was in its heyday and secured its last ACC ring. The 136-year-old football program has appeared in the division championship twice since, in 2015 and 2022, but lost both times to Clemson.
The coach said Monday on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show (1:19 mark), if he were to take the helm at a college football program, it would become a pipeline to the NFL, with a focus on professionalism, training, nutrition, scheme, and coaching — “techniques that would transfer to the NFL, it would be an NFL program at a college level.”
Thursday, Belichick lauded the athletes that come out of the state of North Carolina and touted his relationship with Lombardi, going back three decades.
“He has a great knowledge of the general manager role in this type of position, in terms of scouting two sets of players, high school players and college portal players, as well as dealing with some version of what’s called salary cap, which is now part college football,” Belichick said.
As far as staffing up the program, Belichick is keeping on Freddie Kitchens, the interim head coach and run game coordinator/tight ends. Belichick also was clear he’d hire the best, adding there will “certainly” be an NFL presence.
Belichick is replacing former head coach Mack Brown who was fired two weeks ago after overseeing the football program at the school from 1988 until 1997 and again from 2019 to 2024. Brown finished his last season 6-5 and had a 14-12 record in bowl games overall for the school.
“I’ve spent 16 seasons at North Carolina and will always cherish the memories and relationships,” he told ESPN upon being fired.
Cunningham said the search for the right coach was varied, including Tulane’s Jon Sumrall and Iowa State’s Matt Campbel. He called Belichick a “football legend,” in a release from the school.
“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,” Cunningham said.
When asked if Belichick would consider going back into the NFL if approached while at UNC, he responded: “I didn’t come here to leave.”
He has a buyout in his contract after June 1, 2025 for $1 million, according to Sports Illustrated.
Roberts noted Belichick’s arrival helps achieve the university’s goal for excellence.
“And that means excellence in everything that we do,” he said. “We’re going to have an excellent college football program. We want to compete with the best and we’ve hired the best coach.”
Want to read more from PCD? Subscribe now and then sign up for our morning newsletter, Wilmington Wire, and get the headlines delivered to your inbox every morning.
