Bill Belichick named as next head coach at University of North Carolina

Bill Belichick is heading to the NCAA.

The six-time Super Bowl champ was named the University of North Carolina’s next head coach, the school announced on Wednesday.  

Belichick and North Carolina agreed to a five-year deal, pending board approval.

"This is an exciting day for Carolina football and our University," said chancellor Lee H. Roberts. "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."

Belichick added that he is "excited for the opportunity."

"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.

After reports surfaced last week that Belichick had interviewed with the Tar Heels for their head-coaching vacancy, the legendary coach confirmed the talks on Monday in an interview with ESPN’s Pat McAfee.

The Tar Heels had been seeking a replacement for Mack Brown since the school announced on Nov. 26 that the program’s all-time winningest coach and College Football Hall of Famer wouldn’t return for a seventh consecutive season in his second stint in Chapel Hill. The firing became effective after Brown coached his finale on Nov. 30, a loss to rival N.C. State.

Arguably the greatest NFL coach of all time, Belichick has never coached at the collegiate level, but he does have ties to the college game. His father, Steve, was a legendary scout and assistant coach at Navy for several decades, and also an assistant coach with North Carolina during the mid-1950s.

"I grew up around college football and I've had a chance this year to take a longer look at it (this year)," Belichick told McAfee on Monday.

When asked what he would bring to the North Carolina program, Belichick said that he would make the Tar Heels an "NFL program" at the college level.

Belichick and the New England Patriots agreed to mutually part ways on Jan. 11 after an incredible 24-year run that included six Super Bowl victories.

Many thought that Belichick’s return to the sidelines would come in the NFL, as he currently sits just 14 wins back of legendary Miami Dolphins head coach Don Shula’s all-time wins record of 347 (including playoffs).

The Tar Heels weren't done there either, as the program reportedly hired Michael Lombardi to become Belichick's general manager, according to multiple reports.

According to the NFL Network's Ian Rapoport, Lombardi was "essential" in UNC landing the NFL legend as their head coach. Now he joins Belichick, leaving his career as an analyst and advisor to the Washington Huskies football team.

The pair go back as far as 2014 when Lombardi was an assistant coach on the Patriots staff for two seasons. The 65-year-old also spent time as an NFL executive for the San Francisco 49ers, Cleveland Browns, Philadelphia Eagles, Denver Broncos and Oakland Raiders.

Belichick's arriving on campus at a time of rapid changes in college athletics, from free player movement through the transfer portal and athletes' ability to cash in on endorsements to the looming arrival of revenue sharing. Consider the Belichick hiring a novel approach by the school to rethinking how it will approach those challenges, led by someone known for success at the highest level of the sport.

“We know that college athletics is changing, and those changes require new and innovative thinking,” UNC athletics director 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.”

Belichick holds 333 career regular-season and post-season wins in the NFL, trailing only Don Shula’s 347 for the NFL record, while his 31 playoff wins are the most in league history.

He's the second coach to win a Super Bowl and then later become a college head coach; Bill Walsh won three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers and later went 17-17-1 at Stanford from 1992-94.

He had been linked to NFL jobs in the time since his departure from the Patriots, notably the Atlanta Falcons in January. That’s why word of Belichick’s conversations with UNC — first reported by Inside Carolina and confirmed by the AP last week — stirred such surprise as an unexpected and unconventional candidate.

But the two sides had been in discussions for several days working on terms before finally reaching an agreement to cap what once seemed an improbable outcome.

Belichick began his NFL coaching career as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts in 1975 and later worked as defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells with the New York Giants, winning two Super Bowls during that stint. He also spent five seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Browns in the first half of the 1990s.

He got his second shot as a head coach in 2000 with the Patriots. And in his second year, as Brady rose to stardom, Belichick won his first Super Bowl title as a head coach.

The Belichick-Brady duo went on to win the Super Bowl for the 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons, and Belichick was The Associated Press NFL coach of the year three times.

Now he takes over a UNC program that is facing a familiar challenge of how to build a sustained winner.

-- with files from the Associated Press