After parting ways with the New England Patriots in January 2024, Bill Belichick interviewed for a head coaching job with the Atlanta Falcons, but ultimately it didn’t go through. The six-time Super Bowl champion head coach spent the last season working in media, but Belichick might be eyeing a return to the sidelines, and according to several reports he interviewed to take over in a struggling ACC program.
Belichick has the best resumé among any head coach in the nation, by a landslide. Although reports of his return to coaching intensified, not many envisioned the most decorated coach in Super Bowl history to fancy a job in the NCAA. However, as one vacancy opened in the ACC, it seems Belichick is in for a new experience.
After the North Carolina Tar Heels moved on from head coach Mack Brown, an enticing spot opened in Chapel Hill. Belichick interviewed for the Tar Heels’ head coaching job on Thursday, according to Inside Carolina.
Since Brown’s firing in November 26, North Carolina has sat down with a list of candidates, including Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall, Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, and now Bill Belichick.
Coach openings in Power Four
UNC is one of four job openings at the Power Four level, along with UCF, West Virginia and Purdue. However, the Tar Heels are considered the best vacancy available at the moment.
Should Belichick join the program the ACC would receive a huge boost, just as talk surrounding the conferences heats up amid the CFP Selection Committee decision to snub the Miami Hurricanes in favor of SEC’s Alabama.
Fresh start for Belichick?
It’s still far too early to tell, Belichick may be more interested in returning to the NFL, or maybe he is looking for new horizons and believes a fresh start in college football is the perfect opportunity.
However, college football is a whole different monster than the NFL. Belichick would have to deal with recruiting, the transfer portal, NIL deals, and the crazy carousel that is commitment flips and Signing Day, things he never faced before.
North Carolina’s decision to pursue Belichick is also noteworthy, they just fired 73-year-old Mack Brown and could be possibly replacing him with another coach in his seventies. Brown delivered a strong statement as he left the program after six years at the helm.
“I told the kids I’m sure they’ll get a great coach,” Mack Brown said. “He’ll have a better situation than we did with NIL because of revenue sharing. We had about four million dollars. He’s going to have at least twelve. So it’ll be three, four times much more money for the kids. So that should really help them.“