Report: North Carolina to hire long-time assistant Will Friend as new offensive line coach

North Carolina is set to make another hire on Bill Belichick‘s inaugural staff, tapping long-time SEC assistant coach Will Friend for a spot.

According to ESPN’s Pete Thamel, Friend “is expected to finalize a deal” to become the new offensive line coach at North Carolina.

Will Friend spent the past year serving as Western Kentucky‘s offensive coordinator. Under his direction, the Hilltoppers finished with the nation’s No. 82 total offense (373.5 yards per game) and No. 92 scoring offense (24.9 points per game).

A former Alabama offensive lineman, Friend has had stints all over the SEC.

He first emerged as a major presence in college football coaching circles from 2003-04, when he served as a graduate assistant at Georgia. He would later have a stint as Georgia’s offensive line coach from 2011-14, adding running game coordinator responsibilities in 2014.

After that, Friend spent three years as Colorado State‘s offensive coordinator and offensive line coach.

Will Friend returned to the SEC in 2018 at Tennessee, where he worked for three years. He then moved to Auburn as offensive line coach from 2021-22, before going to Mississippi State as offensive line coach in 2023.

Suffice it to say, Will Friend knows the recruiting territory quite well and should be a quality addition to Belichick’s staff.

UNC GM pushes back on slow hiring narrative

The fascinating experiment that is Bill Belichick at North Carolina is already taking some wild swings, and Belichick’s general manager Michael Lombardi took to Twitter on Tuesday to take down “a completely fabricated story” about the program.

Lombardi called out a piece from Pro Football Talk that suggested Belichick’s slow pace in hiring staff members has left some nerves in Chapel Hill about “the possibility that Belichick will activate his $10 million buyout and bolt for the NFL.”

Nonsense, said Lombardi.

“We are not slow, just being diligent, hired three people on Sunday, not one is nervous other than this erronous report,” Lombardi wrote. “A completly fabracated story. thank you.”

North Carolina has already hired some staff members.

Freddie Kitchens, a holdover from Mack Brown‘s staff, has been named the offensive coordinator. Steve Belichick, Bill Belichick’s son, has been named the defensive coordinator. Matt Lombardi is an offensive assistant, while Chris Jones is a defensive assistant. And Moses Cabrera, a Bill Belichick associate from his days in New England, is the head strength and conditioning coach.

Now Will Friend has emerged as the latest hire.