Bill Belichick is officially a college coach.
But that doesn’t mean his new North Carolina job doesn’t have an NFL feel.
Belichick, 72, started spring practices this week with his Tar Heels and said that his young players have embraced playing for him and that, from his perspective, there has been a pro comparison to it all.
“The response has been great,” Belichick told reporters Wednesday about coaching college players. “It’s kind of similar to what a rookie minicamp would be and time with the rookies. Granted, those kids are a little bit older, but they’re coming in from all different programs and different situations.
“So it’s starting to put everything together: here’s how we do things, here’s what our expectations are, this is what you need to do to be successful. They’ve embraced that, they’ve tried to do it.”
In December, Belichick shocked the football world when he signed a five-year contract to become the next head coach of North Carolina.
He played college ball himself at Wesleyan but jumped to the pro ranks when he joined his first NFL staff with the Colts one year after graduating.
Belichick, whose father Steve was an assistant at UNC from 1953–1955, remained in the NFL until 2023, winning eight Super Bowls, six of which came as head coach of the Patriots.
But after New England moved on from him and hired Jerod Mayo, Belichick was left without a coaching job when he failed to land any other gigs during the 2024 cycle.
He leaned into TV and media jobs, including appearances on the “ManningCast” version of “Monday Night Football” and “The Pat McAfee Show.”
Belichick said there has been “fun” in getting to run a team again.
“That’s the great thing about being a head coach — I can coach anybody I want,” Belichick said. “I can coach the line, I can yell at the tight ends, I can yell at the DBs, I can yell at the kickers.
“I can go to any group I want and coach them. And honestly, that’s the fun part.”
Belichick’s program might’ve had even more of an NFL feel this offseason, with HBO’s “Hard Knocks” set to document the school for its offseason edition of the show before a deal broke down this week.
