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How Bill Belichick is bringing NFL perspective to North Carolina
North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick. Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

How Bill Belichick is bringing NFL perspective to North Carolina

Bill Belichick may be uniquely qualified to be a head coach in today's college football environment.

Of course, he's one of the greatest NFL coaches of all-time with eight Super Bowls to his name — six as head coach of the New England Patriots and two as an assistant coach with the New York Giants — but he's never done anything at the college level.

Still, Belichick believes his experience in the pros will translate to this new era of college football, where players are getting paid and can essentially enter the transfer portal anytime they want.

Belichick was asked by Rece Davis of ESPN on "College GameDay" what he feels about the "professionalization" of college sports.

“It is what it is. It’s something that I’ve been doing for a long time, it’s just the kids are a little bit younger now, but it’s basically the same process," Belichick said (h/t On3's Barkley Truax). "Free agency happens after one year instead of four. There are a few modifications, but it’s very similar.”

There's obviously been change at North Carolina as the Tar Heels have transitioned from Mack Brown to Belichick. The Tar Heels had 17 players enter the transfer portal, but Belichick has brought in others as well.

That's not to mention his 2026 recruiting class. Belichick has yet to pick up a four-star or higher, according to the 247Sports Composite, but the longtime NFL head coach has always been able to do more with less compared to his coaching peers.

The Tar Heels are also still on the hunt.

"We’ve signed guys, and we’re going to recruit a big class this year. We have 105 scholarships than the 85 it used to be. So we got plenty of space. We’re looking for really good players," Belichick said. 

Andrew Kulha

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

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