Bill Belichick will reportedly become North Carolina’s next football head coach

Bill Belichick is head coach again.

Per several reports, Belichick has agreed to become the head coach at North Carolina. The Athletic reports that the contract is expected to be for three years and $30 million.

The agreement between Belichick and the school comes after discussions between the two parties regarding the Tar Heels’ open head coaching job became public a week ago.

Belichick, 72, replaces Mack Brown, who was fired after six seasons in his second stint as head coach in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels finished 6-6 in 2024. Running game coordinator and tight ends coach Freddie Kitchens will coach UNC in the Fenway Bowl on Dec. 28.

Belichick parted ways with the New England Patriots after last season after winning a record six Super Bowl championships over 24 seasons. He was expected to be a candidate for the seven head coaching vacancies in the offseason, but interviews were only conducted with the Atlanta Falcons. The Falcons ultimately chose Raheem Morris.

The New York Jets, Chicago Bears and New Orleans Saints currently have interim head coaches, but none of those teams have contacted Belichick about their job offers yet, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio reports. Another handful of teams could make a coaching change after the season, and it’s unclear whether Belichick would have been seriously considered by an NFL team that hasn’t yet made a change.

North Carolina has the best head coaching job at the top level of college football this offseason as there has been limited coaching movement among power conference schools. If North Carolina is Belichick’s final stop as head coach, his hunt for Don Shula’s record is now over. Belichick, who has 351 wins as an NFL head coach, is 18 wins away from overtaking Shula as the winningest NFL coach of all time.

Belichick is about eight months younger than the 73-year-old Brown, who was the Tar Heels’ second-term head coach. Belichick, on the other hand, has no experience as a college football coach. Even though he grew up playing the college game.

Belichick’s father was an assistant in the Navy and coached UNC’s running backs from 1953 to 1955. His son Stephen is currently the defensive coordinator at Washington. He is a good friend of former Alabama coach Nick Saban, the winningest coach in modern college football history. Iowa coach Kirk Ferentz was also Belichick’s assistant with the Cleveland Browns.

The college football world has also changed significantly over the last five seasons. College football is more like the NFL in that players can make money through name, image and likeness deals – and will make money directly from schools starting in 2025 – while also having the option to transfer to another school without having to sit out a season.

After reports surfaced that Belichick had been in discussions with North Carolina officials about the head coaching job, he confirmed those reports during a Dec. 9 appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show.” Belichick said he met with UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts and discussed the changes in college football that have made the sport more similar to the NFL than ever before.

Additionally, Belichick indicated what thought he put into building a college program and what he would do to attract recruits who want to play in the NFL.

North Carolina announced it was releasing Brown before its final game of the regular season. After a 9-5 season in 2022, the program had seen declining win numbers in each of the last two seasons. UNC went 8-5 in 2023 before suffering a 70-50 home loss to James Madison and a shocking loss to Georgia Tech in the 2024 season after North Carolina scored a 68-yard TD run with 16 seconds left had given up in a drawn game.

Although Clemson is still atop the ACC and SMU made the College Football Playoff after an ACC regular-season title, there is a chance for North Carolina with Florida State faltering in 2024 and Miami in the In 2025, many important contributors will have to be replaced. UNC is clearly hoping Belichick’s success in the NFL and his ability to develop talent will be a deciding factor in bringing players to Chapel Hill.