Bill Belichick | Business owners expect buzz, boost after Belichick hired at UNC

Chapel Hill, NC (WTVD) – There could be a security guard coming to Chapel Hill.

ABC11 has learned that UNC has extended an offer to NFL coaching legend Bill Belichick to become its next head coach. As of Tuesday evening, there was increasing optimism that Belichick would soon be named coach, according to multiple sources. These reports are creating ripples far beyond Franklin Street in Chapel Hill.

“You’re going to get people in the seats, you’re going to get excitement about the program, you’re going to get national attention and recruits,” said Robert Poitras, owner of Carolina Brewery.

Poitras Brewery has been a Franklin Street game for nearly three decades – through many good times for Tar Heel football and bad.

“When we’re good, we play in good seasons, they’re generally later in the afternoon or evening. The restaurants and t-shirt shops,” he said.

Poitras is not just a small business owner; A UNC alum and Rams club member, he knows as well as anyone what the buzz of a possible Belichick signing could mean.

“We’re back on the national map. We’re back in the conversation about football, season ticket sales are going to be through the roof,” Poitras said.

Related | UNC students, fans react to possible Belichick hiring: Excitement, skepticism

It’s a phenomenon that extends well beyond Franklin Street, as Carolina Ale House – one of the state’s largest sports bar chains – will confirm.

“Just like that college football coach trying to recruit good players, it drives business for us because we know they’re going to be a winning team or team,” said Kat Goldfaden, who helps lead marketing for the restaurant helps.

With Tar Heel fanatics across the state, Goldfaden said her team at the Carolina Ale House this fall is anticipating a lot of interest – and larger crowds – among a potentially Belichick-led team.

“It’s already a famous program, it’s going to be incredible for business. I can just see – people who can’t get tickets to the game, they’re going to go to the sports bar, Carolina Ale House and watch,” said.

While university sources say they are closing in on an announcement, any official announcement requires Board of Trustees approval and no bot meeting has been scheduled as of Tuesday evening.