Bill Belichick interviewed for UNC football’s head coaching vacancy, source says
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UNC football hires Bill Belichick to be its next head coach
Bill Belichick led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl victories during the 2000s and 2010s. He has never been a college football head coach. UNC picked him to lead the the Tar Heels following the firing of Mack Brown. Here is ongoing coverage from The News & Observer.
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An unlikely but prominent name has emerged in North Carolina’s search for a new head football coach: Bill Belichick.
The school has had preliminary talks with him about its coaching vacancy, a source confirmed to The News & Observer on Thursday. Inside Carolina, a website that covers UNC athletics, was the first to report the development.
Belichick, the source told The N&O, has genuine and high interest in the opening at UNC and “he blew them away in the interview.” Still, his candidacy is seen as a long shot — to put it mildly — due to his age and his lack of college coaching experience.
Belichick is 72 and has never coached in college at any level. He is regarded, though, as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history and helped engineer the New England Patriots dynasty of the 2000s and 2010s. As head coach of the Patriots, with Tom Brady as quarterback, Belichick led the franchise to six victories in nine Super Bowl appearances.
He spent 29 years as an NFL coach – the final 24 of those with New England. Three of his final four seasons ended in losing records and after a 4-13 finish in 2023 Belichick and the Patriots parted ways. His name has come up with various NFL openings since.
UNC, meanwhile, is searching for a successor to Mack Brown after the school fired him last week. Brown’s second tenure as the Tar Heels’ head coach ended in a 6-6 regular season finish, and with a fourth consecutive defeat against rival N.C. State.
Brown returned to UNC, for his second stint as head coach, in late 2018, when he was 67. He turned 73 before his final season. It is believed the school desires a much younger and up-and-coming coach to replace Brown.
Tulane’s Jon Sumrall, 42, is believed to be among the leading candidates after compiling a 32-7 record in three seasons as a head coach, the first two of those at Troy. Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, 34, also fits the mold of what UNC might prioritize.
Bubba Cunningham, the UNC athletics director, has offered no firm timeline as to when he expects to have a hire finalized. Tulane plays against Army on Saturday night in the American Athletic Conference championship game. Schumann and Georgia, meanwhile, will be in the SEC championship game against Texas.
This story was originally published December 5, 2024 at 5:48 PM with the headline "Bill Belichick interviewed for UNC football’s head coaching vacancy, source says."
