Bill Belichick's one-year absence from coaching football proved to be a sabbatical.
The six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach is heading to the college ranks, as he's finalized a deal to become coach of the University of North Carolina, NFL Network Insider Ian Rapoport reported Wednesday. Inside Carolina reported earlier Wednesday that the sides were closing in on a deal.
North Carolina later announced the hiring, which is a five-year deal pending approval by the University's Board of Trustees and Board of Governors.
"This is an exciting day for Carolina football and our University,'' chancellor Lee H. Roberts said in a statement. "Carolina is committed to excellence and to creating an opportunity to succeed in everything we do, from the classroom to the field of competition. I know after speaking with Coach Belichick that he shares that commitment. His legacy speaks for itself, and we look forward to working together on the next chapter of Carolina football."
The school also released a statement from Belichick.
"I'm excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill," it read. "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."
The 72-year-old Belichick returns to the sidelines -- but not at the professional level -- after spending a season out of the game, manning a number of broadcasting roles, including a weekly spot on Inside the NFL, after multiple interviews with the Atlanta Falcons didn't lead to a job there or anywhere else following his departure from New England after 24 seasons.
The 2024 NFL campaign marked the first season that didn't involve Belichick as a head coach in the NFL since the 1999 season, his last as assistant head coach and defensive coordinator for the New York Jets.
The absence was notable, but seemed only temporary.
Surprisingly, though, there's been little movement on a potential Belichick return to the NFL, despite three teams (the Jets, Saints and Bears) currently playing out the remainder of the 2024 season with interim coaches. Instead of waiting around to see if his candidacy would gain traction in NFL circles, Belichick is taking a job with a program that didn't hide its interest in him following the last month's firing of Mack Brown.
News broke last week that Belichick had interviewed with UNC, and he outlined what a hypothetical college football program under his watch would look like during a Monday appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
"Let me put this in capital letters: If -- I-F, 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. It would be a professional program -- training, nutrition, scheme, coaching, techniques that would transfer to the NFL," Belichick said at the time.
"It would be an NFL program at a college level, and an education that would get the players ready for their career after football, whether that was at the end of their college career or at the end of their pro career. But it would be geared toward developing the player, time management, discipline, structure and all that that would be life skills regardless of whether they were in the NFL or in somewhere in business.
"I feel very confident that I have the contacts in the National Football League to pave the way for those players that would have the ability to have the opportunity to compete in the National Football League. Whether they're good enough or not, I don't know, but they would be ready for it, I don't have any doubt about that."
Belichick's foray into college football will be his first. Thanks to the connections developed by his father, Navy assistant Steve Belichick, Bill was given an opportunity to take an entry level position at the bottom of Ted Marchibroda's Baltimore Colts staff in 1975, skipping the college ranks entirely. Belichick began his coaching career as a special assistant to Marchibroda before leaving for the New York Giants in 1979, rising to the role of defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells.
Belichick moved from the Giants to the Browns, serving as Cleveland's head coach from 1991 to 1995. He was among the casualties associated with the franchise's move to Baltimore, returning to an assistant role in New England and New York before taking the head job with the Patriots in 2000. That commenced a legendary run. Belichick led the Patriots to nine Super Bowl appearances, winning six of them and keeping them among the NFL's elites for two decades.
Belichick's time in New England neared its end following the departure of Tom Brady, as the Patriots posted just one double-digit-win season from 2020-22. He and the Patriots mutually parted at the end of the 2023 season, clearing the way for Belichick's understudy and former player, Jerod Mayo, to take over in New England.
During his 24 seasons in Foxborough, Belichick oversaw one of the greatest dynasties in professional sports history. Belichick currently sits 26 wins away from tying Don Shula for most regular-season wins in NFL history (328) and 14 wins behind Shula for most regular-season and playoff wins by a head coach (347). His move to North Carolina would seem to end his chances of tying or surpassing Shula.
UNC fired Brown in the days before the Tar Heels' season-ending loss to in-state rival North Carolina State, bringing Brown's tenure in Chapel Hill to an end with a record of 44-33 and a 1-4 record in bowl games. They'll hope an NFL legend can turn them into a collegiate power.
