Paul Finebaum believes North Carolina can 'easily' reach College Football Playoff with Bill Belichick

In the NFL, Bill Belichick is unmatched, having won six Super Bowls as a head coach and two as a defensive coordinator. Now 72 years old, he’s taking on a new challenge, the college game.

A day after news broke that Belichick will be the next head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, ESPN analysts broke down the move on Get Up. That included Paul Finebaum, who believes that Belichick can easily reach the College Football Playoff with the legendary head coach.

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“North Carolina was already a good program, not a great program,” Paul Finebaum said. “But a program that could get to a championship game as they did a couple of years ago. Now they can easily, and I mean easily, get to the CFP because this year — we just got through talking about the ACC getting two teams in the Playoff. All you have to do is have a good season and maybe get to the championship game and in that league, he can do that.”

Finebaum is referencing how things worked out in this year’s Playoff selection process. Clemson beat SMU in the ACC Championship Game, despite being the lower-ranked team, which led to both teams making the field.

Finebaum wasn’t alone on the panel, believing that Belichick is going to find more than a little success in Chapel Hill. Former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky agreed, predicting the Tar Heels will make the Playoff in short order.

“I fully expect North Carolina to be a Top 20 program within one year and I fully expect them to be a College Football Playoff member within two or three seasons,” Orlovsky said. “The ACC is a place right now that Clemson has owned for a long time. There’s no question North Carolina is capable of taking over that role.”

Belichick has a record of 302-165 between a stint with the Cleveland Browns and more than two decades with the New England Patriots. His playoff record is 31-13. He trails only Don Shula and George Halas on the NFL’s all-time wins list. He’s also first in postseason wins, ahead of Andy Reid.

North Carolina, for its part, is coming off a 6-6 season and still has a bowl game to play. The last time the Tar Heels played for a conference championship was in 2022 and the last time they won a conference championship was in 1980. That was under head coach Dick Crum. North Carolina has never won a national championship or made the College Football Playoff.