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Pete Thamel
Pete Thamel
ESPN
- College Football Senior Writer for ESPN. Insider for College Gameday.
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Chris Low
Chris Low
ESPN Senior Writer
- College football reporter
- Joined ESPN.com in 2007
- Graduate of the University of Tennessee
Dec 11, 2024, 02:29 PM ET
North Carolina is working to trying to close a deal with Bill Belichick to make the six-time Super Bowl champion the Tar Heels’ coach, but sources told ESPN there are still issues that both sides need to work through.
Sources added that the “ball is in Belichick’s court” and that North Carolina officials are onboard with him becoming the coach. A resolution is expected in the near future, sources said.
Among the looming issues are the potential role for his son and current Washington defensive coordinator Stephen Belichick, North Carolina’s NIL resources, Belichick’s salary and resources for the staff and reporting structure.
Talks between North Carolina and Belichick have been ongoing since at least last week, sources said. ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported that Belichick met with North Carolina officials for five hours Sunday.
Belichick, for his part, was typically coy about the situation in an interview on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Monday afternoon. He confirmed to McAfee that he had a “couple of good conversations” with North Carolina chancellor Lee Roberts and “we’ll see how that goes.” He concluded the interview by saying about the UNC job: “We’ll see. We’ll see.”
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The hiring of Belichick, 72, would resonate as one of the most stunning and compelling moves in college football history. He worked in the NFL in some capacity from 1975 until his divorce from the New England Patriots after the 2023 season.
The NCAA transfer portal opened Monday, which leaves the Tar Heels’ roster potentially in flux. Belichick did talk in hypotheticals about what his college program could look like with McAfee, stressing “if” he took a college job. He observed that modern college football looks a lot more like the NFL.
“If I was in a college program, the college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL,” Belichick said. “It would be a professional program: training, nutrition, scheme, coaching and techniques that would transfer to the NFL.”
He concluded a lengthy portrait of what the program would look like by saying: “It would be an NFL program, but not at the NFL level.”
Belichick has never coached at the college level but did grow up on college campuses, including his father spending three years as a North Carolina assistant coach. Sources told ESPN that Belichick’s interest in the job has always been sincere and that he has strong desire to return to the sideline.
He has been calling potential staff members for days, and representatives from UNC’s collective have hypothetically discussed players’ potential interest in anticipation of Belichick taking the job. Belichick’s exploration has included a dive on nearly every aspect of college coaching and how it would look.
Other names that have emerged in North Carolina’s search include veteran NFL coach Steve Wilks, Tulane coach Jon Sumrall, Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, Army coach Jeff Monken and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith. Smith indicated he would stay with the Steelers, and Tulane reached an agreement in principle with Sumrall for a contract extension.
The UNC search has been scattered, sources said, with an uncertainty in the industry about who is running it. Board of trustees chair John P. Preyer has been a key Belichick advocate throughout the process and has galvanized a group at the school behind Belichick’s potential hire.
