Bill Belichick explains plan to build North Carolina scouting staff 'very much' like Nick Saban at Alabama

For four seasons in the early 1990s, Nick Saban and Bill Belichick were on the same coaching staff in Cleveland. Following their time with the Browns, they went on to become arguably the greatest coaches at both the college and NFL levels – but Belichick is now drawing inspiration from his former defensive coordinator.

The new North Carolina head coach said Saban is an inspiration for how he’s going to build out the scouting staff in Chapel Hill. Michael Lombardi is already on board as general manager, and the Tar Heels have been active in the transfer portal after Belichick officially took over.

One of the big questions about Belichick’s hire was how he would adjust to the college game after a decorated NFL coaching career. It turns out, Saban is going to be the inspiration for the scouting plans.

“I appreciate Coach Saban’s comments about the evaluations that we did in Cleveland,” Belichick said on ESPN College GameDay Friday night. “I think I learned a lot more from him than he did from me. He’s a great evaluator. And then, I watched him at Alabama put together essentially his scouting and evaluation staff. Now, I’m copying a lot of things that I watched him do there and learned from the system that he installed there. It’s been, really, each day, more players come into the portal. As these bowl games are completed, I’m sure there’ll continue to be more.

“We’re on top of each guy – evaluating the players that we think will be coming in, but also some declare that maybe we didn’t expect or you start to hear players that are rumored to come in. We’re digging through all those guys. We have a lot to offer here at Carolina, both academically with this institution and the football program, and what we have to offer.”

To that, Saban had a poignant response to his longtime colleague and friend. After all, his plan had to come from somewhere.

“It must’ve been pretty easy to copy our model at Alabama since it was your model, right?” Saban quipped.

Bill Belichick: ‘We’ll get players ready for the NFL’

North Carolina has eight transfer commitments so far this cycle and made a big splash by landing elite quarterback recruit Bryce Baker from the high school ranks. Bill Belichick’s goal is to build a program to help get players to the NFL, and he plans to use his connections – not to mention his experience in the league – make that happen.

“We’ll get players ready for the NFL,” Belichick said. “No matter what position they play, we’ll get them ready for their lives and their careers by the accountability that comes with the program, very much like Nick did at Alabama. We’ll see what kind of success it [has], but very much like that model. Excited to do it. It’s been fun so far.”

Baker is one of the top quarterback prospects from the 2025 cycle. A four-star prospect, he is the No. 93 overall player and No. 10-ranked quarterback in the class, according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.