UNC Athletics announced Bill Belichick will be the next head football coach
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WTVD) -- Following days of rumor and reports, UNC Athletics confirmed that Bill Belichick will be the next head coach of the school's football team.
The announcement was posted to GoHeels.com before 8 p.m. Wednesday.
UNC Athletics said that Belichick has agreed to a five-year deal. The deal was finalized by the UNC Board of Trustees who met on Thursday morning and signed off on the contract.
ABC11 reported Wednesday morning that the UNC Board of Trustees was expected to meet to finalize the contract. ABC11 has now learned that the meeting will take place Thursday at 9 a.m.
The University of North Carolina Board of Governors Committee on University Personnel announced Wednesday night that it will hold an emergency meeting at 3 p.m. on Thursday. The full UNC Board of Governors will hold an emergency meeting at 3:30 p.m.
"This is an exciting day for Carolina football and our University,'' said chancellor Lee H. Roberts. "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."
"We know that college athletics is changing, and those changes require new and innovative thinking. 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," Roberts added. "At Carolina, we believe in providing championship opportunities and the best experience possible for our student-athletes, and Coach Belichick shares that commitment. We are excited to welcome him to Chapel Hill," said UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham.
Belichick is a six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach and one of the most renowned coaches in NFL history. He has 302 wins in the National Football League, placing him just 16 shy of the record held by the late Don Shula.
"I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill. 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," Belichick said.
He arose as a surprise possible candidate for the UNC football job vacated after the dismissal of former coach Mack Brown. Brown is a Hall of Fame Coach who returned to UNC for a second stint and brought the Tar Heels back to relevance but was unable to rocket UNC into national prominence.
UNC leaders hope hiring Belichick is the next step to making the traditional basketball school a football powerhouse as well.
"That's what we need, somebody that can come in and take us from good to great. How do we compete for championships - ACC and national championships?" Cunningham said on a UNC-produced podcast at the beginning of the coaching search.
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Moving on from the 73-year-old Brown to hire the 72-year-old Belichick would mean UNC is turning to a coach who has never worked at the college level, yet had incredible NFL success alongside quarterback Tom Brady throughout most of his 24-year tenure with the Patriots that ended last season.
In the time since, he had been linked to NFL jobs, notably the Atlanta Falcons in January.
Belichick has spoken publicly in hypotheticals about what his college program could look like, stressing "I-F" he took a college job. He observed that modern college football looks a lot more like the NFL.
While Belichick didn't dive into details of his UNC discussions, he did offer insights into the parallels he sees between running an NFL team at a college level where players are now able to cash in on their athletic fame with endorsements and with the arrival of revenue sharing looming.
"If I was in a college program, the college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL," Belichick said. "It would be a professional program: training, nutrition, scheme, coaching, techniques that would transfer to the NFL.
"It would be an NFL program at a college level," he added.
There's also at least a small family tie to the UNC program for Belichick; his late father, Steve, was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953-55.
The NCAA transfer portal opened Monday, which leaves UNC's roster potentially in flux.
Many details about Belichick's contract remain unknown. Previous reporting has suggested his hiring would include an increase in NIL resources as well as a position on the staff for his son Stephen Belichick.
Representatives from UNC's collective have hypothetically discussed players' potential interest if Belichick took the job. They stressed that nothing was done but have held discussions about the idea.
A source told ABC11 that it was Belichick's camp that first reached out to UNC to express interest in the position.
ABC11's Sean Coffey, Michael Perchick, Kate Rogerson, ESPN, and The Associated Press contributed.
