Mack Brown claims UNC made big change for Bill Belichick

North Carolina Tar Heels football coach Bill Belichick. Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Mack Brown claims North Carolina made big change for Bill Belichick

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports | By Grey Papke | Last updated May 21, 2025 6:23 PM ET

Former North Carolina coach Mack Brown is claiming the Tar Heels made a significant change to accommodate his successor, Bill Belichick.

In an appearance on SiriusXM College Sports on Tuesday, Brown predicted that Belichick will be a success at North Carolina. He noted that the program is giving Belichick ample support and indicated that the school even lowered its academic standards to enable Belichick to land better recruits.

“He’s arguably the best coach over. They’ve committed money to it. They’ve helped him with academics. They’ve lowered those standards some. So there’s absolutely no reason that they shouldn’t be successful,” Brown said of Belichick. "And anymore, they’ve changed the roster. They've signed maybe 60-something new transfers. So you’ve got a chance to succeed at the highest level, and I expect him to do that and I’m proud for him."

Mack Brown opens up on leaving UNC and shares with @DustyDvoracek & @dannykanell why UNC has a chance to be successful quickly with Bill Belichick. pic.twitter.com/Mj9yE3poOk
— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) May 20, 2025

Based on Brown’s statement, North Carolina made some significant changes to lure Belichick to the school. Those changes have continued as the school looks to help him navigate some of the new problems he has encountered.

North Carolina probably did not expect the recent drama that Belichick has gotten involved in to be a factor when he signed on. It makes sense that they would be concerned about that given how much effort they went to in order to land him. Talent acquisition, at the very least, still should not be a problem.

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

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