Bill Belichick agrees to become UNC's next head football coach

Look out Chapel Hill, Bill Belichick is coming. 

Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels finalized a deal for the 72-year-old to become their next head football coach, the university officially announced on Wednesday night. 

"I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill. I grew up around college football with my Dad and treasured those times," Belichick wrote in a statement. "I have always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill."

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OutKick's Trey Wallace reports that UNC will give Belichick a five-year deal worth upwards of $50 million.

The six-time Super Bowl-winning coach remained interested in returning to the sidelines at some point in the future, but it was always expected that he would make his way back to the NFL after missing out on a new gig following his departure from the New England Patriots before this season. After all, Belichick had been in the league in some role since 1975 prior to this season.

But earlier this week, The Guardian US reported that Belichick agreed to become the new head coach in Chapel Hill, adding that Belichick handed the school a 400 page "organizational bible" with structure, payment plans, staffing choices etc.

Wallace reports one of the biggest components to the deal was Belichick having enough NIL money to compete in the recruiting space, which was agreed to. He also wanted to pick his assistant coaches, and UNC is giving them the resources to get who he wants, even if buyouts are necessary. 

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Among those assistants expected to join the staff is Stephen Belichick, his son who serves as Washington's defensive coordinator. It was reported that the elder Belichick had the unusual request of wanting his son to become his successor, stepping in when he decides to leave the program.

This will mark Belichick's first stint as a college football coach. His father, Steve Belichick, was a longtime assistant coach at Navy. But he did have a stint in the 1950s with the Tar Heels. 

Belichick has spent much of the ongoing NFL season in the media spotlight after his interviews for NFL jobs didn't lead to a job offer.

While he interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons in January, the franchise opted against extending an offer. Belichick did not appear to draw much interest from any other NFL team, but his regular appearances on ESPN's "ManningCast" and the CW's "Inside the NFL" have kept him close to football.

During an appearance on "The Pat McAfee Show" earlier this week, Belichick confirmed he had talks with UNC about their head coaching vacancy, adding that he spent the 11 months since his departure from the Patriots taking a "longer look" at college football throughout the season as opposed to during the spring lead-up to the draft as a pro coach.

"So it’s been, it’s been a good year for me. I’ve learned a lot," Belichick said. "So, I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Chancellor [Lee] Roberts, and we’ve had a couple of good conversations. So we’ll see how it goes."

Belichick opted not to go into more detail when asked by McAfee. Instead, Belichick offered a quip about his reputation for giving terse responses during news conferences with the Patriots.

"Yeah, let’s just leave it at that, Pat," Belichick said with a grin. "I mean, I don’t want to give out too much information. I want to get my press conference aura back."

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Belichick shared some details about the makeup of a college program if he were a head coach.

"If I was in a college program, the college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL," he said. "It would be a professional program — training, nutrition, scheme, coaching and techniques that would transfer to the NFL."

Belichick is one of the winningest coaches in NFL history. He finished the 2023 season with 333 career wins — which places him in second on the all-time coaches wins list. Don Shula's 347 wins still leads all coaches.