Until recently, Bill Belichick has been known as one of the greatest football coaches of all time.
Having a resume that features eight Super Bowl rings will lead to that type of reputation.
With that said, there were some major questions as to whether or not Belichick could make it at the college level. He spent his whole career in the NFL, and he was endeavoring to take on the NIL and transfer portal era of college football in his 70s.
That’s a tough ask for even an established legend, and the results in year one for the North Carolina Tar Heels suggested that there was a bit of an adjustment period.
Belichick went 4-8 in his first season at UNC. That’s not good by his standards. It’s not good by any coach’s standards.
Notably, North Carolina athletic director Steve Newmark is seemingly giving Belichick a pass, though.
“There’s no doubt that whenever you have a program turn, leadership change, there is an adjustment period and adaptation,” Newmark said on Wednesday with WRAL-TV (h/t On3). “I think the general rule is you see it takes a couple years for schools, when they have a leadership change — particularly in the football space because of the number of kids on the team … that they need to come in and put their stamp. Make sure they bring in players that are suitable for their system. So I think that’s what we’re looking at.”
Bill Belichick shouldn’t get a ton of patience at North Carolina
While Newmark is right that it still does take time for a coach to truly establish the culture he’s looking for, the case of the Indiana Hoosiers would suggest that not a ton of time is needed in this era of college football.
Head coach Curt Cignetti went from coaching James Madison to going 11-2 with a spot in the College Football Playoff. He then went 16-0 and won the CFP in year two…with the Indiana Hoosiers.
If Cignetti and Indiana can do it, certainly there won’t be many excuses for Belichick and the Tar Heels.
Newmark is optimistic as UNC heads into its second season with the NFL legend at the helm, though.
“I think we’re optimistic [about] where we’re going,” he said. “I like the way that they’re trying to build it. We understand we’re in a performance-based sport. Coach Belichick would be the first to say that. But we feel like we’re on the right trajectory. We need to continue to show what Coach Belichick continually refers to as ‘continuous improvement.’”
