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Rob Gronkowski: One College Football Program Has ‘Deion Sanders Effect’ Right Now

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Alex Weber | Last updated Aug 22, 2025 10:15 AM ET

Rob Gronkowski is "excited" for the college football season to start, he expressed on the Ryen Russillo Podcast. Part of that excitement? He's eager to see how one program gets started.

For the prior two seasons, Deion Sanders and Colorado were easily the biggest talking point in the sport on the surface level. Even people who didn't watch college football likely heard the names of the Sanders family members in some capacity. While that show parades on in Boulder, Gronk told Rus sillo that another program could become that must-watch circus this season.

"With Coach Belichick at North Carolina, he kind of has that Deion Sanders effect right now," Belichick said to Russillo. "It’s a mystery this year."

There's the mystery aspect — every single football fan wants to see how this big Belichik experiment works out at the college level. But there's also the sideshow, which makes Gronkowski a little uneasy.

"With all of these different headlines going on, and so many distractions, how is he going to come out on the other side of all this?" Gronk asked. "And with all the marketing deals going on and everything, too, it’s definitely new to him."

Given that Bill Belichick is getting older, hasn't coached college ball in this century, and has a bustling life off the field now — Rob Gronkowski doesn't know for sure what this new chapter in his old coach's life will look like.

"Everyone’s interested in what the Tar Heels are going to do this year, but it’s also like, what are they going to do?" he wonders. "No one knows how Coach Belichick is going to be as a coach there."

Gronkowski Spent Nine Years with Patriots Under Belichick

Who better to riff on the legendary coach than one of his longest-tenured players?

Rob Gronkowski was a staple of the second half of the Patriots' dynasty with Tom Brady at quarterback. Gronk actually played five full seasons before winning a Super Bowl with the New England Patriots, but then became part of three championship teams in five years before retiring ahead of the 2019-20 season.

Of course, he returned to the NFL the season after that, 2020-21, linking back up with Brady in Tampa, where the duo led the Buccaneers to the Super Bowl and connected for two touchdowns in the big game to close the book on their final ring as a pair.

Now, Gronkowski has transitioned into the media game on Fox Sports and providing analysis on the coach he used to play for. It's certainly interesting that Gronk didn't give a full stamp of approval for Bill Belichick in his first year in college, and he genuinely believes it's a mystery whether his old coach will do well at North Carolina or not.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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