Report: North Carolina finalizing deal to make Bill Belichick next head coach

North Carolina is finalizing deal to name Bill Belichick its next head coach per Inside Carolina. Belichick will replace Mack Brown, who the school fired on Nov. 26 after North Carolina fell 41-21 to Boston College in Week 13.

Despite being perhaps the most-accomplished NFL coach of all time, this will be Belichick’s first time coaching at the collegiate level. He began his coaching experience in 1975 as a special assistant for the Baltimore Colts.

He continued to work his way up the NFL coaching ladder until he received his first head coaching gig with the Cleveland Browns in 1991. He coached the Browns for four years before eventually landing with the New England Patriots, where he built his legacy.

As the head coach of the Patriots from 2000-23, Belichick won six Super Bowls, the most ever for an NFL head coach. Belichick also has the most playoff wins (31) of any head coach in NFL history and the third-most regular season wins of all time (302).

For his excellence, he has been named the NFL Coach of the Year three times and is a member of the NFL’s 2000s and 2010s All-Decade teams. Now, Belichick will look to bring his experience to North Carolina.

Belichick has history with the Tar Heels. His father, Steve Belichick, coached the team’s backfield from 1953-55. He then took a job at Navy, where he coached for 33 years. Nonetheless, Bill Belichick hasn’t forgotten his family’s connection to Chapel Hill.

During an appearance on The Pat McAfee Show on Dec. 9, the 72-year-old head coach outlined his vision for North Carolina if he were to take over the program.

“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,” Belichick said. “It would be a professional program — training, nutrition, scheme, coaching techniques — that would transfer to the NFL.

“I feel very confident that I have the contacts in the National Football League to pave the way for those players that would have the ability to have the opportunity to compete in the National Football League. Whether they’re good enough or not, I don’t know, but they would be ready for it. I don’t have any doubt about that.”