“Six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick interviewed for the head coaching vacancy at North Carolina this week, Inside Carolina first reported Thursday. He's among a group of candidates the Tar Heels have spoken with since firing Mack Brown on Nov. 26, a list that Inside Carolina reports includes Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall and Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, among others. Inside Carolina first reported Sunday the initial contact between Belichick and UNC officials.

ESPN senior NFL insider Adam Schefter reported in September that Belichick was eyeing a return to coaching in 2025 but "is expected to be choosy if and when he returns to the sideline." Schefter reported that Belichick turned down offers from the San Francisco 49ers and Los Angeles Rams to fill the franchises' defensive coordinator vacancies this offseason in a "decorated assistant role." The report from Inside Carolina is the first official known interest between Belichick and a college football program.

Belichick and the Patriots mutually agreed to part ways on Jan. 11 2024 after New England stumbled to a 4-13 record, the team's worst in his 24 seasons as head coach. Days later, he interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons for their head coaching position, but ultimately, the job went to Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. He spent the past year working several jobs in sports media. He joined "The Pat McAfee Show" for its NFL draft coverage in April and has appeared on the show weekly during the NFL season. He has also appeared on the "ManningCast" during ESPN's Monday Night Football games and is an analyst on The CW Network's "Inside the NFL."

UNC is one of four job openings at the Power Four level, along with UCF, West Virginia and Purdue. CBS Sports ranked UNC as the top opening in college football. The program transitioned from Brown to its interim phase on Sunday, while athletics director Bubba Cunningham ramped up the search for the next Tar Heels football coach. The school released an in-house studio interview with Cunningham on Monday, during which Cunningham discussed where he's at with the search process and how he'll go about finding a new coach.

31 comments

  1. I guess he is reading the tea leaves for HC roles next year. The transfer portal for UNC would be kind of wild to see if this happens. 

  4. Honestly, college may be the only place where Bill would be able to get full control over the entire operation.

  5. I don’t think he ends up at UNC or in college at all because of how recruiting tends to be so tiring. Plus UNC has played some games on Monday night, and he already has a gig for Monday Night Football.

    That being said, this is easily the best head coach available on any level, but I just don’t see how he goes to college ball.

  6. I’m a Carolina fan, this was mentioned last week but I thought it was just a couple of big boy donors trying to meddle. Didn’t think an interview would ever be in the cards.

  12. Genuinely don’t know why a guy his age and with his level of success would want to take a college HC gig.

  15. I can’t see Bill as a college coach. It’s such a different animal with recruiting and keeping players happy. If anyone can make the transition it would be him, but I really doubt it would work. He’s an Xs and Os guy and college is more of a Jimmy’s and Joe’s game

  16. Couldn’t this just be a way to make him seem unavailable? If he has a college offer it would make NFL teams more hungry to get him knowing they could miss their chance. This is like classic 101 market scarcity tactics.

  17. It sounds slightly more plausible when I consider all the time he spent at University of Washington with Steve Belichick this past offseason.

  22. Solid choice. Probably has great odds to get it and they have some good looking women in his age range going to school there. 

  23. Man, if Bill doesn’t get the all time wins record I’ll genuinely be sad. I wish he could’ve broke it here and retired. Sucks.

  25. I assume he’s getting his name back in circulation and generates some buzz for UNC. I doubt he takes a non nfl job.

  26. I think people need to calm down a bit. The only reason he’s doing this is so that his girlfriend can get the head cheerleader role.

  27. > Belichick and the Patriots mutually agreed to part ways

    This isn’t true, Kraft has admitted he fired him.

  30. I find it very hard to believe he’d actually want to do the recruiting necessary to be successful and deal with NIL tbh

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