Bill Belichick explains how he'd run a college football team

Bill Belichick. David Butler II-Imagn Images

Bill Belichick explains how he would run a college football program

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Dec 9, 2024 7:59 PM ET

There does appear to be some steam behind the reality of legendary NFL head coach Bill Belichick coaching at the college level.

On Monday morning it was reported that there have been talks between Belichick and North Carolina for the vacant head coaching position left by the fired Mack Brown. Belichick doesn't have any ties to UNC and he's never coached at the college level, but it's worth noting that he was asked later in the day about the rumor by Pat McAfee and instead of shying away from the report, he discussed how he would run a college football program.

“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 told McAfee (h/t On3). "It would be a professional program — training, nutrition, scheme, coaching techniques — that would transfer to the NFL. It would be an NFL program at a college level and an education that would get the players ready for their career after football, whether that was the end of their college career or at the end of their pro career. But it would be geared toward developing the player, time management, discipline, structure and all that."

"IF I was in a College program it would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL..

It would be a professional program at the College level..

I don't have any doubt that the players would be ready for the NFL" ~ Bill Belichick #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/JyMDtzs2yR
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 9, 2024

It certainly sounds like Belichick has tossed the idea around in his mind a little bit. There's a case to be made that his answer to McAfee was almost like an open interview response, whether that be for North Carolina or any other interested program.

The problem would be, of course, that Belichick is 72 years old and even a basic knowledge of his personality would suggest that he would want nothing to do with the recruiting trail and the NIL scene. That would be his only red flag for an interested school, though, because the rest of his resume is hard to argue with.

He's arguably the greatest NFL head coach of all time, with six Super Bowl wins to his name as head coach of the New England Patriots and two more won while he was defensive coordinator of the New York Giants in 1986 and 1990.

Simply put, he knows what he's doing when it comes to producing winners at the NFL level.

“I feel very confident that I have the contacts in the National Football League to pave the way for those players that would have the ability to have the opportunity to compete in the National Football League. Whether they’re good enough or not, I don’t know, but they would be ready for it. I don’t have any doubt about that," Belichick said.

Andrew Kulha

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician. Spooky! @KulhaSports

More must-reads: