Yes, Bill Belichick is taking a page from Rodney Dangerfield and going back to school.
The University of North Carolina has announced that Belichick has accepted the head-coaching job with the Tar Heels.
“I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill,” Belichick said in a statement released by the school. “I grew up around college football with my Dad and treasured those times. I have always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.”
Belichick coached only in the NFL for all of his career, from 1975 through 2023.
Many were surprised by the news from one week ago that Belichick was talking to North Carolina. As reported during Football Night in America, Belichick was “very surprised” by the prior lack of contact from potentially interested NFL teams. Once his interest in North Carolina came to light, there was never a report that any NFL team (or any other college program) wanted to talk to him.
His choice became simple. With no Door No. 2, it was Door No. 1 or bust.
Terms of the deal have not been announced. Because North Carolina is a public institution, the contract can’t be hidden in the same way his Patriots deal consistently was. While there are ways to conceal extra income he’ll receive from private entities that support the program, the basic terms will be known.
Beyond whether the deal will include a succession plan that would give his son, Stephen, the job at some point in the future, it will be interesting to see whether the contract gives Belichick the ability to leave for an NFL job.
There’s no guarantee he’ll get one, especially with not much current interest in his services. Still, whether the UNC contract gives him a quick and easy out will shed considerable light on whether he’ll still be keeping an eye on the NFL level.
The release mentions that a press conference will be held at a later date. By then, Belichick surely will have pivoted from his 2024 media persona to his prior attitude toward the press, which largely consisted of grumbling, secrecy, and periodic Shakespearean monologues on obscure football topics like the physics of long snapping and the evolution of the Wing T.