Bill Belichick adds veterans to staff at North Carolina

North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick speaks to those attending his hiring announcement at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Bill Belichick adds veterans to coaching staff at North Carolina

By Andrew Kulha | Last updated Jan 15, 2025 10:37 PM ET

Bill Belichick is about as experienced and accomplished as a head football coach as you'll find, but he is entering a new experience now that he's the head coach at North Carolina.

For as much as he's accomplished in the game of football — namely winning a bunch of Super Bowls with the New England Patriots — Belichick has never been a college head coach. Interestingly, he's now just joining that fraternity at 72 years old, too, because the landscape for coaches in college football has never been harder with 24/7 recruiting, NIL deals and an always open transfer portal.

Having a good staff is paramount to Belichick's early success at North Carolina, and he added two veteran assistants on Wednesday.

According to Pete Thamel of ESPN, Mike Priefer and Will Friend are joining UNC's staff.

Veteran offensive line coach Will Friend is expected to finalize a deal to become the offensive line coach at North Carolina. He was OC at Western Kentucky last year and has worked at Auburn, Mississippi State and Tennessee over the years. pic.twitter.com/dYVYlBt9f5
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 15, 2025

Sources: Longtime NFL special teams coach Mike Priefer is expected to finalize a deal to become the new special teams coach at North Carolina. He’s worked in the NFL since 2002 and been a head special teams coach from 2006-2022. pic.twitter.com/dFf8HgK5dL
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) January 15, 2025

Priefer is a longtime NFL special teams coordinator who worked for the Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings and most recently, the Cleveland Browns between 2006 and 2022. He did have several years of college experience before heading to the NFL in 2002.

Friend is a longtime college offensive line coach who has spent time at Auburn, Mississippi State, Tennessee and most recently as the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky. He's also known as a strong recruiter.

Priefer and Friend will be two major pieces of the puzzle for Belichick at UNC.

Andrew Kulha

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

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