In 2009, Mack Brown had his Texas Longhorns in the BCS National Championship Game against Alabama – led by head coach Nick Saban, who had won a national title at LSU but had yet to bring one home for the Crimson Tide.
Fast forward 15 years and Brown has been fired after a second stint at North Carolina, Saban has retired from his dynasty at Alabama and his former boss with the Cleveland Browns in the NFL, Bill Belichick, was just hired by the Tar Heels at the ripe age of 72 to replace the 73-year-old Brown.
Talk about full circle.
North Carolina, who went 6-6 in 2024, will now have their rebuild in the hands of the grumpy old man who retired after the 2023 season after nearly 50 years of coaching in some capacity in the NFL and has never been a part of the major college game.
It begs the question of why Belichick didn’t just use the one-year sabbatical and take another NFL head coaching job, like the Raiders, Jets (one he had spurned before) or some other franchise. After being a part of eight Super Bowl-winning teams, why stoop down to the college level to deal with NIL turmoil and a year-round recruiting calendar?
Saban and others got out of the professional game because of that. Other ultra-successful guys like Urban Meyer and Chris Petersen aren’t trying to get back in either. So what enticed Belichick?
A couple of Razorbacks have an idea.
Fernando Carmona on Belichick’s Succession Plan
On a recent episode of the Pin and Pull podcast, Arkansas offensive lineman Fernando Carmona shared his opinion on why the Tar Heels’ brass ultimately chose Belichick over a host of other candidates.
Carmona talks about how he was in the training room talking with one of Arkansas football’s head trainers who had a theory he was explaining to him that sold Carmona.
The trainer went on to tell him that Steve Belichick is currently the defensive coordinator at Washington, so it makes sense to bring him aboard at North Carolina. His theory was that if Bill gives his son 2-3 years to learn the ropes of being a head coach while UNC posts winning records and makes bowl games, he’ll end up passing over the keys to his son.
“It makes total sense,” Carmona said. “Belichick has nothing left to prove. He’s done everything he needs to do in the football realm. This is strictly to help his son get that next promotion and it’s genius.”
Head-coach-in-waiting tabs are not new, but very rarely happens with the father handing off a program to his son at the high major level. In college basketball, the best recent example might have been Dick Bennett handing the Washington State program off to his son, the recently retired Tony Bennett. In college football, plenty of famous sons of coaches who have followed in their father’s footsteps, like Bobby, Terry and Tommy Bowden, Frank and Shane Beamer, Don and Mike Shula, Steve Spurrier Sr. and Jr. – the list goes on.
In those situations, however, these guys cut their teeth at programs that either weren’t their father’s or used their father’s program to get a gig somewhere else and then worked their way up.
Of course, Steve Belichick is currently doing that at Washington in his first year as a college coordinator. The Huskies had a mediocre 6-6 season in 2024 after finishing as national runner-ups the year prior. They did lose their head coach, Kalen DeBoer, to Alabama in between – which certainly explains that dropoff. Washington finished 27th nationally in total defense and 46th in scoring defense.
Proof will be in the Pudding For Belichick at UNC
I have my doubts that Bill Belichick will ultimately be successful in the college game, although I am certainly not questioning his football acumen or ability to manage a roster.
While winning six Super Bowls as a head coach in New England (of course, all with Thomas Edward Patrick Brady Jr. as his signal caller), Belichick earned the reputation of being terrific at building through the draft and finding gems in free agency that other franchises would overlook or undervalue.
In that case, even though he isn’t experienced whatsoever in the transfer portal or with NIL, he’s been dealing with player contracts and freedom of movement his entire career, so he may actually do alright with handling these facets of the job.
He may even find himself in the College Football Playoff if he can run through the ACC gauntlet. SMU made the conference title game in its first year as a member, so it’s not out of the realm of possibilities for UNC to turn things around quickly. The Tar Heels last finished in the top 12 nationally after the 1997 season, which Brown parlayed into taking the Texas job.
Lawrence Taylor, a UNC alum and Hall of Fame edge rusher Belichick coached while he was with the New York Giants, said that Belichick can “win it all” at North Carolina.
What it’s going to come down to is how much talent Belichick can accumulate, and whether the geriatric veteran can motivate his band of college-aged kids. The former seems promising with UNC’s massive rumored NIL slush fund to attract blue-chip prospects. The latter is where it gets tricky. It’s one thing to get a group of seasoned professionals to execute on gameday – it’s entirely different when you’re dealing with 18-22 year olds.
Having his 37-year-old son would certainly help in this realm. It’s reasonable to believe that Steve Belichik will take over as North Carolina’s new defensive coordinator soon, which is the main reason why this outgoing Washington transfer Khmori House is projected to land at UNC.
Bill Belichick in ACC
While the SEC and Big Ten get most of the attention these days, the ACC is also a very competitive conference with a number of contenders. UNC’s biggest rival, Duke, went 9-3 this season and likely could have pushed for the College Footbal Playoff if they had retained head coach Mike Elko. Stalwarts like Clemson and Miami always provide a tough test, even if recent years haven’t been as kind to them.
Florida State won’t be down for too long, as the Seminoles are already reloading in the transfer portal. Wake Forest just hired Washington State’s Jake Dickert as its head coach after he steered the Cougars to an impressive 8-4 finish amidst the chaos of conference realignment and the Pac-12’s death. You also can’t forget SMU after the Mustangs went undefeated in conference play in their inaugural ACC campaign.
Former Pulaski Academy coach and current Sheridan coach Kevin Kelley long admired Belichick’s greatness from afar and briefly worked on his New England staff in 2022 following his one-year stint at the college level at Division II Presbyterian (S.C.).
It wouldn’t be surprising if Kelley and Belichick have already corresponded about the latter taking the Tar Heels’ job – and it wouldn’t shock me if Kelley ended up on Belichick’s staff at some point down the line.
Looking at North Carolina’s schedule next year, it’s a daunting start to college life for Belichick.
The Tar Heels open against TCU, who isn’t far removed from a national runner-up finish with Sonny Dykes still at the controls. UNC will also face UCF on the road in non-conference play. The Golden Knights just re-hired Scott Frost, the coach that led them to an undefeated season (and a claimed national championship) before bailing to attempt to rescue his alma mater Nebraska.
If Belichick can steer the Tar Heels to contention, he’ll be the talk of the football world.
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More from Carmona on this theory starting at the 24:08 mark below:
More on Kevin Kelley:
More coverage of Arkansas football from BoAS:
