The college football coaching carousel often brings surprises. Still, everyone was thrown for a loop Thursday afternoon when reports surfaced that the North Carolina Tar Heels plan to interview legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick for their vacant head coaching position.
Why are the Tar Heels interested in the former New England Patriots coach, and is he the right fit for the school? Let’s break down possibly the wildest of head coaching carousel rumors and analyze the potential fallout of an out-of-the-box hire.
Did Bill Belichick Interview for the North Carolina Head Coaching Job?
North Carolina 247Sports affiliate InsideCarolina reported on Thursday afternoon that the Tar Heels are interested and have already interviewed Belichick.
The Patriots fired Belichick in early 2024 but quickly interviewed for a few open positions, including the open Atlanta Falcons head coaching job in the days that followed. He turned down two assistant coaching positions in the NFL, and until now, Belichick hasn’t been connected to any college football teams.
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However, that changed when the Tar Heels called. While we’re unsure of the likelihood that Belichick ends up as the head coach at Chapel Hill, there’s at least enough mutual interest for the sides to conduct a formal interview.
Belichick, 72, has desired to return to coaching but will likely be selective with potential jobs.
Why Would North Carolina Hire Bill Belichick?
To be clear, my position is that Belichick would be a poor hire for the Tar Heels. However, North Carolina’s athletic department is interested for several reasons.
First, Belichick is a long-time coaching veteran and one of the best defensive minds in the history of football. Given North Carolina’s recent defensive woes, finding a head coach with experience on that side of the ball makes sense.
Belichick has plenty of experience. And that’s the issue.
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The sentiment around the industry was that Mack Brown, 73, was getting too old to handle the modern era of college football. Between the constant recruiting, transfer portal, Name, Image, and Likeness, coaching in college football is exhausting.
Belichick, just one year younger than Brown, has never coached at the college level.
He’s never recruited, has few relationships with high school coaches, and has never managed a roster without lengthy contracts and a salary cap.
People around Mack Brown thought he was getting too old for the position and that recruiting suffered. Now, the Tar Heels are considering Belichick for the same position.
North Carolina might come to the same conclusion. The Tar Heels have also courted Tulane Green Wave head coach Jon Sumrall and asked around about Georgia Bulldogs defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann.
Last week, we offered nearly a dozen potential candidates to replace Brown.
All we know right now is that Belichick has interviewed for the vacancy. There’s nothing to indicate if that went well or how genuine the Tar Heels’ interest is in Belichick.
If I were him, I’d limit my search to the NFL. And if I were North Carolina, I’d limit my search to slightly younger candidates.
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