Bill Belichick is set to begin his journey in college football as the new head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels. While many believe his success may not be solely measured by immediate results, one former Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots shared his thoughts on what could be the key to HC’s success.
Malcolm Butler, who was coached by Belichick during his time in Foxborough and is remembered as the hero of the Super Bowl victory over the Seattle Seahawks, knows the head coach well. The former cornerback believes that Belichick’s ability to recruit top talent could be the key to his success in his new chapter at UNC.
“He’s finna win,” Butler told The Mina Kimes Show. “Bill Belichick never been the guy about money. Obviously, we need to be compensated for what we do, but this NIL deal, Bill Belichick go finds Malcolm Butler working at Popeye’s. You ain’t think he finna find no players that’s going to come in and play? He’s going to find players that people don’t want.”
Additionally, the former Cardinals and Titans player highlighted how Belichick was able to spot talent in players like Tom Brady and Julian Edelman—athletes whom many others might have overlooked.
Head coach Bill Belichick of the New England Patriots reacts alongside Malcolm Butler #21 and Akeem Ayers #54 after defeating the Denver Broncos at Gillette Stadium on November 2, 2014 in Foxboro, Massachusetts.
“What about Tom Brady? What about Julian Edelman?” the former cornerback finally concluded.
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Belichick expressed satisfaction with the recruiting process
One of the qualities most praised about Bill Belichick is his ability to recruit the best talent for his team. Now, as the new head coach of North Carolina, the HC has begun his journey in college football by recruiting talent, a process he expressed satisfaction with according to his vision.
“It’s been great,” he said on the Pat McAfee Show last month. “It’s been great to get on the road and see some of the great high school coaches, programs, players. Still a lot more to hit but it’s been fun connecting with so many people—some new, some old—it’s been a great process. There’s a lot of really good kids out there, it’s been fun to see them.”
Belichick’s main goal at UNC
While results are naturally important and the on-field performance cannot be overlooked, Bill Belichick understands that one of his primary goals during his time in Chapel Hill is to attract young talent to join the program.
“We want to be a national school, and we are a national school. It is a national brand, and everybody wants to go to Carolina,” Belichick said via Carolina Insider. “We know it’s very difficult to get acceptance into the school as an out of state student, but … we’ve had tremendous interest from student athletes nationally that have great interest in the program. And so we’re, you know, we’re everywhere. We’re gonna recruit North Carolina hard, that’s the most important state, but we also want to have a national presence for student athletes that want to come here.”
He also spoke about the NFL approach when it comes to recruiting players for his roster: “Well, it’s a little different than than what I did with draft prospects, because there is a drafting element, but we also recruited a lot of players who weren’t drafted, guys like David Andrews, who wasn’t drafted, who’s the starting center for the Patriots the last nine years that Mike and I recruited out of Georgia as an undrafted player.”
