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Friedlander: Hiring Bill Belichick to coach UNC is a disaster waiting to happen
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What’s the cost of winning the press conference?
It appears North Carolina might soon find out.
According to numerous sources and reports, the Tar Heels are a handshake away from hiring Bill Belichick as their next football coach.
It’s a move that, initially, had all the makings of a publicity stunt. But it has slowly gained traction to the point that many believe it could become a reality. And a large portion of the school’s fan base is fired up about the possibility.
Even if some members of the Board of Trustees and the man whose job it is to do the actual hiring, athletic director Bubba Cunningham, aren’t as sold on replacing a 70-something coach who’s past his prime with a 70-something coach with no college experience who was also pushed out of his last job for being past his prime.
The high-rollers and other Trustees who reportedly are pushing for the move hope that bringing in a coach of Belichick’s stature will send a message to the rest of college football that UNC is serious about becoming a big-time player in the new NIL, post-realignment landscape.
The same message Colorado sent by hiring Deion Sanders.
Belichick’s name alone is enough to make the splash UNC is after and help him win the press conference even before he flashes a Super Bowl ring and starts talking about running the Tar Heels more like an NFL organization than a traditional college program.
He might even show up wearing his trademark hoodie.
And then what?
There are more red flags to how this might turn out than there were waving around Kenan Stadium following rival NC State’s win against the Tar Heels 2 weeks ago.
Let’s start with the obvious.
Belichick, who turns 73 in April by the way, wasn’t the same coach without Tom Brady as his quarterback.
Yes, the man has won 333 NFL games, more than any other coach in league history other than Hall of Famer Don Shula. And he has those 6 rings. But without arguably the GOAT of quarterbacks running his offense, his record is just 82-98.
That includes a 29-39 mark in the 4 seasons after Brady left to win another Super Bowl with Tampa Bay.
If Belichick thought winning with Mac Jones was tough, wait until he gets a look at what he’ll have to work with in Jacolby Criswell. And if a quarterback he plucks off the transfer portal doesn’t work out – or anyone else on the roster, for that matter – there won’t be any trade options or a waiver wire available to find someone better once the season starts.
During an appearance Monday on ESPN’s Pat McAfee Show, Belichick said if he was to coach a college program, he would become a pipeline to the NFL.
“I don’t have any doubt that the players would be ready for the NFL,” he said.
That sounds like a great concept. One of many Belichick has likely spelled out in the 400-page “organizational bible” he reportedly put together to show UNC officials how he would run their program. The problem is putting that concept into practice.
Deepening the talent pool at any program takes effort.
While Belichick, like most high-profile CEO coaches, would have his staff do most of the heavy lifting in the recruiting process, he still would have to be the closer who seals the deal.
If he had trouble relating to the grown men, the professionals he coached toward the end of his tenure with the Patriots, how could he possibly hope to connect with teenagers still in high school? Not to mention their parents and handlers with their hands out for NIL deals?
That’s assuming he bothers to go out on the road recruiting at all instead of spending his offseason hanging out on a beach sipping margaritas with his 20-something girlfriend.
But that’s not even the most troubling aspect of this Belichick saga.
The process itself has been anything but a typical coaching search.
It’s almost as if Belichick has been interviewing UNC instead of the other way around. He reportedly presented school officials with numerous demands, the most significant of which is that his son Steve be named coach-in-waiting.
Steve Belichick is currently the defensive coordinator at Washington. It’s the first time he’s had a job other than on his dad’s staff. And he’s only done that for 1 season.
Although his defense allowed 53 yards and a touchdown fewer per game than the Tar Heels this season, his relative lack of experience would make him an even bigger gamble than his Hall of Fame-caliber father. Especially considering the number of current FBS head coaches who have shown an interest in the job.
UNC’s program desperately needs a long-term infusion of energy. Not the kind of quick burst you get from downing a can of Red Bull.
The Tar Heels tried that by bringing Mack Brown out of retirement 6 years ago and it worked for a while.
But it didn’t end well. Hiring Belichick wouldn’t, either.
It would only be a matter of time before the cantankerous coach gets tired of dealing with 18-year-olds, with the media, with athletic administrators and with trips to out-of-the-spotlight places like Winston-Salem and Blacksburg, and decides he’s had enough and walks away.
He could potentially leave a mess even worse than the one Matt Doherty created for UNC’s basketball program back in the early 2000s. And without a Roy Williams waiting in the wings to swoop in and clean things up, it could take years for the Tar Heels to recover.
But at least they’d win the press conference.
Award-winning columnist Brett Friedlander has covered the ACC and college basketball since the 1980s.
