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The North Carolina Tar Heels have hired former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl winner, as their head coach, the school announced Wednesday.
The contract is for five years, pending approval by the University’s Board of Trustees and Board of Governors.
Belichick, 72, coached the Patriots from 2000 to 2023. He won Super Bowls after the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons before he and New England mutually parted ways in January.
Belichick is second on the NFL’s all-time coaching wins list, with 333. He also won two Super Bowls as the New York Giants’ defensive coordinator after the 1987 and 1990 seasons.
“I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill,” Belichick said in a statement. “I grew up around college football with my Dad and treasured those times. I have always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.”
UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham said the program is “excited to welcome him to Chapel Hill.”
“We know that college athletics is changing, and those changes require new and innovative thinking,” he said in a statement. “Bill Belichick is a football legend, and hiring him to lead our program represents a new approach that will ensure Carolina football can evolve, compete and win — today and in the future. At Carolina, we believe in providing championship opportunities and the best experience possible for our student-athletes, and Coach Belichick shares that commitment.”
The Tar Heels fired head coach Mack Brown on Nov. 26. Brown, who previously coached at North Carolina from 1988 to 1997, had led the team for the last six seasons. He had a 43-33 record during his second stint, winning one bowl game.
The Tar Heels have not won a conference championship since 1980 and last appeared in the ACC championship game in 2022.
Belichick has never coached in college. He began his career as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts in 1975, then spent two years with the Detroit Lions and one with the Denver Broncos.
The Giants hired Belichick as a special teams assistant in 1979 and promoted him to defensive coordinator in 1985. He won two championships under head coach Bill Parcells before he accepted the head coaching position with the Cleveland Browns in 1991.
In four seasons with the Browns, Belichick was 36-44, making the playoffs only once. After he was fired in 1996, he reunited with Parcells, first as a defensive assistant with the Patriots in 1996, then as the New York Jets defensive coordinator from 1997 to 1999.
Belichick originally agreed to become the Jets head coach in 2000 but surprised the team by resigning before what was supposed to be his introductory news conference. He instead left for New England, where he was given final say over player personnel in addition to his coaching duties.
Though he oversaw six Super Bowl wins, Belichick’s relationship with Patriots owner Robert Kraft reportedly grew strained in 2020. That year, Belichick decided the Patriots would part ways with quarterback Tom Brady, who started in all of New England’s Super Bowl wins and is headed to the Hall of Fame as one of the greatest signal callers of all time.
In his last four years as the Patriots head coach, all without Brady, Belichick posted a 29-38 record, making the playoffs only once.
In January, Belichick interviewed for the head coaching position with the Atlanta Falcons, who hired Raheem Morris.
Rohan Nadkarni is a sports reporter for NBC News.
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