UNC's Bill Belichick lands in surprising spot in ranking of ACC coaches

As the college football season approaches, the Atlantic Coast Conference is set to welcome three new head coaches to the fray: Jake Dickert (Wake Forest), Frank Reich (Stanford) and arguably the National Football League's greatest coach of all time in Bill Belichick (North Carolina). 

CBS Sports analyst Chip Patterson recently ranked the coaches in the conference and surprisingly slotted the NFL icon-turned-college head coach 12th out of seventeen ACC head coaches. Is this a fair placement for Belichick as he enters his first campaign at Chapel Hill? 

Belichick is nothing short of a legendary figure in the football landscape. The former Patriots head coach led New England to six Super Bowl victories and won two more championships as a defensive coordinator for the New York Giants. After a 23-season tenure with the Patriots, Belichick sought a new challenge and signed with the Tar Heels in a surprising decision ahead of the 2025 campaign. One would wonder how a coach that has a combined eight super bowl championships and 12 super bowl berths is not even in the top 10 coaches of his own conference. So how does a coach of his caliber rank so low?

One glaring reason Belichick is ranked low is because of his lack of experience in coaching at the college level. Belichick was a tight-end at Wesleyan University in the 1970s, but has since served as an assistant or head coach at the professional level. The 73-year old will have to adapt to coaching teenagers and young adults - a far cry from the seasoned pros he once commanded in the NFL. Belichick is known for a hard-nosed and structured coaching style. Whether that style will translate to the college level, particularly in today's landscape, remains to be seen.

Another reason on why the NFL legend is ranked just five spots from the bottom is because of the other quality coaches in the ACC. Coaches such as Dabo Swinney (Clemson), Mario Cristobal (Miami), Rhett Lashlee (SMU) and Mike Norvell (FSU) are ranked ahead of Belichick on this list. 

Swinney has already won two national championships. Cristobal posted a 35-13 record in five seasons at Oregon before taking on the challenge of returning Miami to prominence three years ago. Lashlee was the 2024 ACC Coach of the Year and led SMU to a College Football Playoff appearance. Norvell was the 2023 ACC Coach of the Year.

However, Belichick's football acumen is second to none and he has the capabilities to build a strong program at UNC. Belichick has welcomed over 70 new players to the roster and it will be interesting to see how the three-time NFL Coach of the Year can mold all the pieces together. 

Belichick has been a cornerstone for dynasties and showcased sheer dominance across football for over three decades. Now, as he embarks on a new journey at the collegiate level, there is no doubt his mindset and determination will reverberate in Chapel Hill. If there is any coach that can reinvigorate a program and hush the doubters, it is Belichick.