Nick Saban reacts to Bill Belichick interviewing at North Carolina: ‘I think he would do a great job’

Nick Saban chimed in on how Bill Belichick would fare in the college football coaching world on the latest episode of The Pat McAfee Show.

The conversation took on a new life once Belichick interviewed with North Carolina earlier this week. Evidently, Saban believes the legendary NFL leader would do an incredible job at the college level, whether it’s with the Tar Heels or elsewhere.

“First of all, you know, Bill’s an outstanding coach,” Saban stated. “He’s very well organized. He’s a good teacher. I think he relates well with the players, so I think he would do a great job in college. The only thing that would be different is recruiting. But as you said, relationship building is not as important — not that Bill wouldn’t be good at that, it’s not as important now that you pay players. I think it becomes a little bit more about, you know, the money and the deal that you make with them. So, it is a little bit more like pro football. I think Bill knows how to manage that, and would do a good job.

“It doesn’t surprise me, when you have a coach of his caliber, quality, consistency and success for a lot of years, that he wouldn’t be somebody that people would consider.”

Moreover, Belichick coached the New England Patriots from 2000-2023, leading the Patriots to six Super Bowl championships. The 72-year-old has never coached college football before, but he was obviously incredibly successful in the NFL.

Whether it be Belichick or someone else, North Carolina is searching for a replacement for Mack Brown, who was fired last month after his second stint leading the Tar Heels program.

Brown went 44-33 in the past six seasons at North Carolina. Former NFL head coach Freddie Kitchens is serving as the interim head coach as UNC searches for a replacement.

On3’s Matt Connolly contributed to this article.