For a 48-hour period last week, UNC Chapel Hill was the center of the college football world ― not basketball.
Bill Belichick was hired to coach the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill Tar Heels. The most successful NFL coach in history with Super Bowl rings for eight of his 10 fingers ― six with the New England Patriots and two as defensive coordinator with the New York Giants ― agreed to come south at age 73 to establish, in his words, “a professional program at the collegiate level.”
It might be the earthquake that reshapes not only college football but the entire college athletic world in these days of the transfer portal, NIL and instant gratification.
Asking how much Belichick will make as coach is immaterial. (It is a $50 million, five-year contract guaranteed for the first three years.) Based on his initial comments and experience in the NFL, what Belichick brings to the table is far, far more important than the terms of his contract.
Like the greatest coaches of all time, Belichick views himself first and foremost as a teacher and a molder of men.
Such “philosopher-king coaches” are extremely rare. Carolina and Duke benefitted immensely from three of them: Dean Smith at Carolina; and Duke’s Coach K and Wallace Wade, who left behind three national titles in 1925, 1926 and 1930 at Alabama to become AD, head coach and intramural director in 1931.
Read any of their biographies or talk to anyone who knew or played for them, and they all say the same things: They were tough but fair; they demanded excellence on the playing field or court as well as in the classroom and community; and they cared deeply about their players and university at large.
These legendary coaches preached and demanded a “team-first” attitude. So does Belichick.
Look at what he did with the Patriots ― name any player besides Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and maybe Randy Moss who will be in the NFL Hall of Fame one day. Belichick took mostly average athletes who were smart and savvy and molded them into great teams by putting each player in situations to maximize their strength and minimize their deficiencies. The Patriots were known as the team that was meticulously prepared for each and every situation on the field.
And their defense — Carolina fans can say goodbye to teams such as JMU hanging 70 points on them. No more “Fly the Friendly Skies” of the Tar Heels secondary under a Belichick-coached defense.
Think the next great running back from Tarboro or in-state five-star talent will bypass Chapel Hill to go play for Georgia when he can play for Belichick?
Doubtful.
To those who say Belichick never coached in college, ask them if they think Einstein could have taught physics to high school students.
By far the most important thing Belichick said at his press conference was say he would help every player get prepared for “life after football.” Less than 2% of all college football players wind up playing a single down in the NFL. Of those who do, they stay an average of 3.3 years before retirement.
In these days of NIL money, young men need to be taught how to handle and invest money and not squander it like so many before them. Belichick has promised to teach his Tar Heels players discipline, financial and time management skills, and how to be a mature adult so they can be a success for their long life after football.
If he does nothing more than make sure players go to class, avoid sham classes such as the embarrassing AFAM class scandal a decade ago and graduate with a meaningful degree as Smith, Krzyzewski and Wade did, Belichick will have done UNC and the entire collegiate athletic world a tremendous public service.
The ACC was formed in 1953 out of the rib of the old 15-member Southern Conference to create a league of teams that could compete for national titles with much higher academic standards and entrance requirements than any other conference in the country (not named the Ivy League).
That is the reason why every institution in the ACC is viewed with respect by other universities. It is the main reason why SMU joined without being able to participate in any television revenue for the next decade.
If ACC teams want to forfeit any semblance of quality academic achievement for their student-athletes, by all means, they should leave and become a football factory and wind up being a .500 team in the Big Ten and SEC forever.
Bill Belichick may be the perfect candidate for the perfect time to set college athletics back on its original mission ― to train bold young leaders for the future of this nation.
Go Tar Heels!
