Bill Belichick addresses roster management concerns with spring transfer portal

The North Carolina Tar Heels made a major splash when they brought in Bill Belichick. For the legendary coach, that led to an immediate challenge as he adapts to the Transfer Portal and recruiting.

Ahead of spring practice, Belichick was asked about roster management concerns, including that some people might leave because it’s the wrong situation for them. However, for now, it’s wait-and-see for the new North Carolina coaching staff.

“I really don’t have any expectations,” Bill Belichick said. “We’ll see. I don’t know. We’ll go out there and do what we do and see how it goes. I think what you’re saying could or could not happen. That’ll be up to each individual and just how things go.”

This comes at a time when tampering is a massive concern around college football. Several schools, including name-brand programs like USC and Nebraska, have even canceled their spring games with the logic that they don’t want anyone to see their players and try to tamper with them to enter the Transfer Portal. Despite that, Belichick and North Carolina have announced things like open practices, helping make access to the team easier.

“I know we have a good plan. I know we can do the right things to help the players improve, help the team improve, [and] put a good product on the field. Everybody that can help us and buys into it and wants to be part of it will be part of it that’s here,” Belichick said. “If they don’t, then that’s their decision.”

This is, of course, Bill Belichick’s first season in college football and not in the NFL. However, the open practices are a thing done in the NFL and could be a sign of what he’s taking from the professional ranks and bringing to the college game. On top of that, this is the first time the Tar Heels players are going to learn what it means to be coached by Belichick.

North Carolina was fairly active in the winter portal window. That’s, generally speaking, true for most teams that undergo some kind of coaching change. The Tar Heels have the 27th-ranked transfer class in the 2025 cycle, according to the On3 College Football Team Transfer Portal Rankings. 17 players have already left while 19 players have already entered the program.

Bill Belichick says everyone wants to go to North Carolina

Recruiting is a brand new challenge for Bill Belichick. However, he feels that at North Carolina there is less he needs to do because people want to play for that brand.

“We want to be a national school, and we are a national school. It is a national brand, and everybody wants to go to Carolina,” Belichick said. 

“We know it’s very difficult to get acceptance into the school as an out-of-state student, but … we’ve had tremendous interest from student-athletes nationally that have great interest in the program. And so we’re, you know, we’re everywhere. We’re gonna recruit North Carolina hard, that’s the most important state, but we also want to have a national presence for student-athletes that want to come here.”