Rob Gronkowski sends hilarious message to Bill Belichick following UNC hire

Every great coach needs great players. And Bill Belichick was lucky enough to have a number of Hall of Famers suit up with him during his time with the New England Patriots. Together, they built one of the greatest dynasties the NFL will ever see. On Wednesday evening at the LA Bowl, former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski was in attendance with the championship belt and necklace for the MVP of the game.

He also sent a hilarious message to Belichick, letting the ESPN sideline reporter know what he thinks of the former Patriots head coach in the college ranks.

"He's going to do an awesome job coaching those young bucks at UNC."

Rob Gronkowski on Bill Belichick 🐏 pic.twitter.com/60EnfYZate

— ESPN (@espn) December 19, 2024

“He’s going to do an awesome job coaching those young bucks at UNC,” Gronkowski said on the sidelines.

Bill Belichick says he expects to coach North Carolina for a significant spell

Not long after Bill Belichick accepted the North Carolina job, there was plenty of speculation about how long he would stay in Chapel Hill.

Belichick insists that he is in it for the long haul and has no intentions of leaving North Carolina any time soon, despite being in his early 70s.

“I mean, I feel like doing it a long time. I’m good to go,” Belichick said.

More specifically, he’s ready for the challenge of the college game and building out a program with the help of general manager Mike Lombardi.

“I think the recruiting process belongs to everyone,” Belichick said.

“It belongs to Michael and his scouting staff and evaluations and setting that up in the recruiting department in terms of making this an attractive visit or destination for the athlete but it’s also part of the coaching job and certainly the head coach has a big role in that as well, to ensure the athletes, the student-athletes, that you’re giving them what they want. And there’s not always a fit there. Sometimes that doesn’t quite match up. But this university has so much to offer and our football program has a lot to offer that I think we’ll be able to attract a good, quality player.”

On3’s Matt Connolly also contributed to this article.