Bill Belichick reveals where his relationship with Michael Jordan stands

Bill Belichick has heard more than he could ever forget about North Carolina football from one of its all-time greats, a connection that has only strengthened his relationship with the university’s most famous alumni regardless off sport.

During his decade-long experience with the New York Giants throughout the 1980s, where he coached notable Tar Heels alum Lawrence Taylor as both linebackers coach and defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells, Belichick was kept abreast about Taylor’s alma mater in Chapel Hill.

“I think everyone knows when I was young I was in Chapel Hill with my dad, and then spent the rest of his career at the Naval Academy, but North Carolina’s always held a special place,” Belichick said this week on the Carolina Insider. “And of course, when I was with the Giants, I had Taylor for 10 years there from ’81-90 when I went to Cleveland and heard plenty about Carolina from LT. The pride and really the success they had when he was here, when they won the ACC Championship and he had a lot of great players around him.”

Four decades later, that relationship with Taylor has helped Belichick — in his first year as the Tar Heels football coach — connect with North Carolina’s most iconic alum and face of school’s athletic gear: Michael Jordan.

“Of course, one of his closest friends is Michael Jordan, so that’s another good connection,” Belichick continued. “And Michael’s been great, he’s been very supportive since I came to Chapel Hill. Carolina’s a special place. So, I’m happy to be here and looking forward to working with everybody and doing the best I can here for this university and the football program.”

While Jordan is known as the NBA’s greatest player of all-time, winning six NBA championships during his time with the Chicago Bulls throughout the ’80s and 1990s, he’s maintained a strong connection with his alma mater since leaving in 1984. That includes Jordan providing UNC and its coaches and student-athletes with his Jordan Brand, a subsidary of Nike, athletic gear since the early 1990s.

Michael Lombardi: North Carolina training players as ‘33rd team’ in NFL

During Bill Belichick‘s two dozen years in New England, a sign reading “practice execution becomes game reality” hung inside the Patriots facility.

It is one of Belichick’s favorite mottos and informed all who walked those hallowed halls exactly what was expected from them.

And now it’s what the 72-year-old first-year North Carolina head coach expects from everyone inside the Tar Heels football facility as Belichick moves to transform UNC into what new general manager Michael Lombardi describes as the NFL’s “33rd team.”

“Everything we do here is predicated on building a pro team,” Lombardi said during a press conference Tuesday. “We consider ourselves the (NFL’s) 33rd team because everybody that’s involved in our program has had some form or aspect in pro football.”

As North Carolina kicks off its offseason workoout program ahead of Spring practice, Lombardi explained how that mission begins behind the scenes with the team’s new strength and conditioning coach, Moses Cabrera, who spent 14 years with the New England Patriots, the last eight as the head strength coach.

“One thing that’s always been important to Coach Belichick is what happens on the field has to happen on the practice field,” Lombardi concluded. “‘Practice execution becomes game reality’ — that’s a sign that used to hang in the Patriots facility. And that’s the same thing in the strength room. We’re going to do things that are going to translate to the field.”