ABC11 has learned that UNC has extended an offer to NFL coaching legend Bill Belichick to take over as their next head football coach. As of Tuesday night, there was growing optimism that Belichick would be named coach soon, according to multiple sources. Those reports are generating waves far beyond Franklin Street in Chapel Hill.
"You're gonna put people in the seats, you're gonna get excitement about the program, you're gonna get national attention and recruits," said Robert Poitras, owner of Carolina Brewery.
Poitras' brewery has been a Franklin Street fixture for nearly three decades -- through plenty of good times for Tar Heel football and bad ones, too.
"When we're good, we play at good game times, they're generally later in the afternoon or evening, so people come into town on Friday, they stay Friday night, they flood the hotels, they come downtown and spend money in the restaurants and T-shirt shops," he said.
Poitras isn't just a small-business owner; he's a UNC alum and Rams Club member and knows as well as anyone what the buzz from a possible Belichick signing could mean.
"We're back on the national map again. We're back in the conversation of football, season ticket sales will go through the roof," Poitras said.
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It's a phenomenon that extends far beyond Franklin Street, as Carolina Ale House -- one of the biggest sports bar chains in the state -- will attest.
"Just like that college football coach is trying to recruit good players, it drives business for us because we know they're going to be a winning team or a team to watch," said Kat Goldfaden, who helps run marketing for the restaurant.
With Tar Heel fanatics spread across the state, Goldfaden said her team at Carolina Ale House is bracing for big interest -- and bigger crowds -- under a potentially Belichick-led team this fall.
"It's already a storied program, it's going to be incredible for business. I can just see -- people that can't get tickets for the game, they're gonna go to the sports bar, Carolina Ale House and watch," she said.
While university sources say they're closing in on an announcement, any official announcement requires Board of Trustees approval and no BOT meeting has been scheduled as of Tuesday night.