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If Bill Belichick really wants the North Carolina job, the Tar Heels should roll out the Carolina blue carpet, usher him to the private plane and make him perfectly comfortable in Mack Brown’s old office.
The man has won eight Super Bowls, six as a head coach. He’s the greatest coach of all time. He is a Hall of Famer in every sense of the word and something of a football savant.
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Everyone else in the UNC coaching search – if they’re smart – has studied Belichick, tried to emulate him in numerous ways, tried to learn from him, tried to model their own careers after his.
Let me say this again: Belichick has won six Super Bowls as a head coach. Vince Lombardi has two. Andy Reid, Bill Walsh and Joe Gibbs have three. Chuck Noll has four.
If Belichick wants the job, you hire him and immediately start raising money for the collective.
But hiring Belichick does come with some questions – mainly, does Belichick grasp today’s world of college football in the slightest, and not just from hanging around the Washington program and talking to his son, Steve, who’s the Huskies’ defensive coordinator?
Belichick dealt with free agency issues all the time in the NFL but he also had structure above him to handle a lot of those issues – and not just a general manager but a whole team of executives to crunch the numbers. No NFL player’s “trainer” and “mentor” ever felt like they had carte blanche to call or text Belichick at all hours – usually to ask for something.
If the new model of college football is more like the NFL, Belichick might have something of a grasp of the NIL world but almost every college coach – especially the older ones who are more set in their ways and used to a certain rhythm – are bitching and complaining about it for a reason.
It had to be one reason why Nick Saban, Belichick’s friend and understudy, left Alabama. NIL is a pain in the you-know-what. Coaches can’t just wield power over their subordinates anymore. In some instances, they are the subordinate as well-heeled players are either to be made happy or will leave in a snap for a greener (and I mean greener as in money) pasture.
Does Belichick want to live in a 24/7/365 recruiting world constantly strapped to a cell phone? Is there even cell phone service on Nantucket?
College coaches all the time whine about having no time off or they never see their families or they’re always on a plane to some off-shoot high school to wine and dine a kid so he’ll come play for them. The complaint from some is that they want to do more Xs and Os.
Belichick is a genius on a whiteboard. How about if the whiteboard is in some kid’s science classroom and he’s trying to convince the 17-year-old to come play for him in Chapel Hill? It’s been a handful of years since Belichick last won a Super Bowl so these kids were like 11 and 12 years old so they get it, but they don’t really get it.
Just listen to LSU coach Brian Kelly’s signing day press conference. About 25 of the 37 minutes is him reluctantly accepting the realities of the NIL landscape in college football – and he’s the winningest coach in Notre Dame history.
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Kelly couldn’t keep Bryce Underwood as Oracle billionaire Larry Ellison came in with a huge bag for the five-star quarterback that flipped him to Michigan. Kelly also lost out on five-star defensive end Jahkeem Stewart (in a state where the top player almost never leaves) to 6-6 USC.
There is another college coaching model that could make this move – if it happens – intriguing.
It’s the Deion Sanders model which says don’t go out and recruit, make the players come to you. Come kiss the ring and Sanders will show you the ropes. He’s turned around a woeful Colorado program in two years and it’s because people believe that Sanders can develop them and get them to the NFL.
Known Sanders recruiting visits: Zero.
That will probably be the model Belichick takes if he is offered and accepts the North Carolina job. He’s done everything possible in football and succeeded at literally the highest level possible.
Let’s just say you’re a top recruit in North Carolina. Who are you going to choose to play for – Belichick or NC State’s Dave Doeren? (No offense, Dave, you’re doing a great job but you have to agree).
Let’s say you want to stay regional – will that kid choose Belichick the greatest coach of all time or Shane Beamer, or Brent Pry, or Tony Elliott. Dabo Swinney vs. Belichick on the recruiting trail would be great. No, Kirby Smart vs. Belichick seems epic. Has Smart ever taken a backseat to anyone after coming out of Saban’s shadow?
I hope Belichick takes the North Carolina job and pumps even more excitement into college football. Why go back to the NFL at 72 years old (only eight months younger than Mack Brown by the way) to get pummeled by boy geniuses half your age who’ve spent every night of their lives learning your stuff to scheme against you?
Of course, Belichick was 29-39 in the four years after Tom Brady left the New England Patriots. I’m sure that’s gnawed at him.
But there is another star quarterback right around the corner just dying for the chance to play for Belichick in college. Who would turn Belichick down, with all those rings?
Especially if Belichick is ready to pony up the biggest bucks to get the kid.
