Bill Belichick addresses reports of 400-page document he gave UNC before hire

There was a report as Bill Belichick was going through the interview process with North Carolina that he had “a 400 page organizational bible” that he presented to Tar Heels administrators.

Belichick was asked about that during his introductory press conference on Thursday. He strongly denied that he had any kind of 400-page document.

“Yea, I mean, don’t believe everything you read in the papers,” Bill Belichick said. “I have no idea where that came from. I don’t have a 400-page document. I mean, and to think I’m just going to hand it. I mean, come on, really.”

Belichick won six Super Bowls during his time with the New England Patriots, before being hired as the head coach at North Carolina this week.

The move was a surprising one to some, but Belichick feels strongly that he can win at the college level and feels like North Carolina is the right fit. He also believes that at 72-year-old, he can still coach for a long time.

“It beats working,” Bill Belichick said amid laughter. “My dad told me this: when you love what you do, it’s not work. I love what I do, I love coaching. I love the interaction with the players, I love building a team, working with the assistants, game planning, the game itself. There’s some good ones and some bad ones, but they’re all learning experiences.

“And working with young kids with the energy and enthusiasm to want to be good, to want to be successful, it’s great every day to wake up and come into that environment.”

Carried live on ESPN’s afternoon SportsCenter, the ESPN producers immediately put up a graphic labeled “Oldest Active FBS Head Coaches” reflecting Belichick’s elevated age in comparison to his new collegiate colleagues. At 72, Belichick is three years older Iowa’s Kirk Ferentz (69) and seven years older than Utah’s Kyle Whittingham and Temple’s KC Keeler, who was recently hired after a decade at Sam Houston State.