The latest breaking updates, delivered straight to your email inbox.
Former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick has been named football head coach at the University of North Carolina, a press release from the university said Wednesday night.
“Belichick, the second-winningest coach in NFL history, agreed to a five-year deal pending approval by the University’s Board of Trustees and Board of Governors,” the press release said. “A news conference will be held at a time to be determined to formally introduce the Tar Heels’ new coach.”
The move came a few days after Belichick confirmed having “a couple of good conversations” with North Carolina Chancellor Lee Roberts about the Tar Heels’ head-coaching job, multiple sources told WRAL that he was offered the job.
“This is an exciting day for Carolina football and our University,” Roberts said in the press release. “Carolina is committed to excellence and to creating an opportunity to succeed in everything we do, from the classroom to the field of competition. I know after speaking with Coach Belichick that he shares that commitment. His legacy speaks for itself, and we look forward to working together on the next chapter of Carolina football.”
Belichick reportedly has a long list of demands for UNC, including a 400-page document calling for a new coaching and recruitment staff. He also demanded his son, Stephen Belichick, be next in line to serve as head coach after him.
As for Belichick’s salary, analysts have said he could command up to $12 million a year.
This week on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” Belichick said he had spent the 11 months since his departure from the Patriots taking a “longer look” at college football throughout the season as opposed to during the spring lead-up to the draft as a pro coach.
Belichick would replace Mack Brown, UNC’s all-time winningest coach and College Football Hall of Famer, who was fired in November. Brown’s last game was a Nov. 30 loss to rival N.C. State.
Belichick, 72, who had decades of success in the NFL, has never worked at the college level but his father was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953-55.
He and the Patriots announced a mutual parting of ways in January, following the end of a disappointing season. Jerod Mayo replaced Belichick as the Patriots head coach the next day.
Belichick became head coach of the Patriots on Jan. 27, 2000, less than two weeks after he resigned as head coach of the New York Jets on the day of what was supposed to be his introductory press conference.
He had a 296-133 record in 24 seasons as New England’s head coach between the regular season and postseason. When including the five seasons he was head coach of the Cleveland Browns (1991-95), he has a total record of 333-178.
His 31 postseason wins, all but one of which came with the Patriots, are the most by a head coach in NFL history, and he is only the third coach to win 300 or more regular-season games. Belichick trails only Don Shula (328) and George Halas (318) on the all-time regular-season wins list, and Shula is the only one ahead of Belichick on the combined wins list (347).
Rumors have linked Belichick to the pursuit of other NFL jobs, including the Atlanta Falcons in January, but no job materialized this season and the ex-coach instead signed a deal with ESPN.
Hearst Television participates in various affiliate marketing programs, which means we may get paid commissions on editorially chosen products purchased through our links to retailer sites.
