Bill Belichick finding new life outside the NFL

We’ve made it to July. Which means we’re only a month away from the start of college football. One of the most popular sports in the world is gearing for another star-studded season. There’s so many questions this year. Is Arch Manning the real deal? Can Ohio State repeat with a new roster? Can Deion Sanders improve without his children around? All that and so much more will be answered.

But nobody has a bigger question mark to their season than the University of North Carolina. With a splash hire during the offseason, Bill Belichick was named the new head coach of the Tar Heels. At first glance, this seems like no-brainer. You get the most successful coach in NFL history, and it not only benefits the team, but also the entire school. There's just one small problem.

He's never coached college a day in his life. 

Now many will say there’s nothing different about coaching college. Some will even say it’s easier, but they couldn’t be more wrong. The style is different and the rules are extremely different. Belichick is used to dealing with grown men who are trying to fulfill their contract. And now he has to do this with younger guys who can barely manage day-to-day funds.

Now, that’s not to say he can’t handle them. It just means he has to change a few things about himself if he wants this to work long term. Belichick's mindset can be the greatest addition to the team while also being the greatest adversary. We’ve seen what can happen when a team buys into his philosophy, but I’m not sure that it can relate to this generation. 

Belichick's popularity has sparked interest in a few kids as UNC recently acquired elite blue chip QB recruit Travis Burgess. The recruiting aspect may be another issue for the Tar Heels. Belichick's tenure with New England as a GM left much to be desired. While he had a few hits early on, many in his most recent years were complete busts. Cole Strange, N’Keal Harry, and Domonique Easley have all fallen out of favor in the NFL. 

His bread and butter came with signing players many felt were past their prime. Rodney Harrison, Wes Welker, Randy Moss, all these guys were slated to be write-offs and Belichick made their noteworthy again.  

“Do your job” a quote made famous by Belichick won’t be enough this time. You have to take the time to show these young men how the game works. You can’t just leave it for them to figure it out themselves. Belichick was asked about the difference between college and NFL and his answer was very surprising

“To see how much the players improve from the spring to the start of training camp and this year of course we haven’t started training camp but through the course of the spring the amount of improvement our players made in those 15 days — most of which were in pads — was something that you never saw in the NFL because you could never wear pads in the offseason.”

This is interesting coming from a man who would make sudden changes to a roster days before a season opener by cutting a seasoned vet. The growth of a young kid is like a seesaw. It can lead to the highest of highs where he develops into a first-round pick or the lowest of lows where its hard to see them cracking the list and becoming a UDFA. 

For Belichick, this will be a new way of life. It's a world he can thrive in, if he fully embraces the opportunity.