Bill Belichick's new frontier
After a gap year or two, Bill Belichick, like so many other teenagers, is finally heading to college. Except Bill Belichick is 72, has won more Super Bowls than any coach in NFL history and sits 14 victories shy of the league record. Again, yes, this is very real:
Yesterday, Belichick agreed to a five-year, $50 million contract to succeed Mack Brown as Tar Heels head coach. Belichick says he wants to build an NFL-style program in the college ranks, though he's far from the first to say that. Here we go.
I can only see this unfolding two ways:
1. He wins big. He’s Bill Belichick. Of course he wins. After seeing the Washington Huskies run his defensive scheme this season under his son Steve, the elder Belichick knows how to coach college guys — and how to prepare them for the NFL, a huge selling point on the recruiting trail. Add in a weak ACC and a patsy schedule next year, and we’re talking immediate Playoff contention, depending on how his organization can recruit.
2. He crashes out hard. There is so much about Belichick’s aura that doesn’t fit with the college game. He's gonna enjoy meeting boosters instead of studying film? Historically, forcing NFL strategies on college programs has not worked out. See: Herm Edwards, Charlie Weis, etc. You can’t even compare the NFL-to-college success stories like Jim Harbaugh or Nick Saban, because those guys had been college coaches first. Belichick has never coached in college, and just a reminder, no matter the resume: This man turns 73 before kickoff. He is the oldest coach in FBS.
One thing he’ll have going for him: NIL money should flow in, as The Athletic’s Brendan Marks told me, which will help finance a good roster on top of Belichick’s salary — which is tied for seventh nationally.
Brendan also helped me land on what would count as a successful season in Year 1 of the Belichick regime: eight wins, an upgrade from this year's 6-6, which is basically the program's average in this millennium. Before we go further, I want to know what you think: Will North Carolina improve by two or more wins next season?
P.S. Joining Belichick yesterday in the “old faces, new places” club was Rich Rodriguez, who is heading back to West Virginia as head coach.