Bill Belichick is officially announced as North Carolina head coach

North Carolina has made it official, announcing the hiring of six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick as the Tar Heels’ next head football coach. Belichick, who will be 73 by the time the 2025 season kicks off, is considered one of the greatest coaches in NFL history but has never coached at the collegiate level during his Hall of Fame career.

“We know that college athletics is changing, and those changes require new and innovative thinking,” AD Bubba Cunningham said in a statement. “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. 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.”

Belichick spent sixteen years as an assistant coach in the NFL, including a six-year stint as Bill Parcells’ DC with the Giants where he was part of two Super Bowl winning teams, before getting his first head coaching job with the Cleveland Browns in 1991.

He is best known, of course, for his 24-year run as the head coach of the New England Patriots, where he created a modern football dynasty winning seventeen AFC East titles (including 11-straight from 2009-19) and six Super Bowl rings (most recently for the 2018 season).

“I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill,” Belichick said. “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.”

Bill’s dad, Steve Belichick, was a long-time college assistant coach who spent 34 years working with the Navy football program. But before that he spent three seasons as an assistant at North Carolina (1953-55), providing Bill an early link to the Tar Heel program.

Belichick replaces Mack Brown, who stepped down after sixteen seasons (1988-97 and 2019-24) at the helm. The Heels went 6-6 (3-5 ACC) in 2024 and will be led by interim head coach Freddie Kitchens in the Fenway Bowl later this month.

credit to North Carolina Athletics for the image