UNC’s Bill Belichick isn’t nickel-and-diming when paying players

NFL legend Bill Belichick, about to embark on his first season as North Carolina’s head coach, has given a glimpse into his recruiting strategy amid the new revenue-sharing era in college sports.

The longtime New England Patriots head coach claimed that if he needs to pay extra to land a top-flight player, he would be willing to do so. He added that if such a move means that the program goes over its budget, so be it.

“I wouldn’t want to lose a good player over a few thousand dollars because, say, we were over our budget. If he’s that good of a player, we’d give him a little bit of the extra money to get them and figure it out somewhere else,” Belichick said, per On3’s Nick Schultz.

In June, federal judge Claudia Wilken settled three different antitrust lawsuits at the federal level, which paved the way for schools to begin directly paying players for the 2025-26 college sports cycle.

Schools can now share up to $20.5 million with their athletes, and that amount will increase annually. Most schools, including North Carolina, will share the bulk of their money with football players, followed by men’s basketball, women’s basketball and potentially other sports.

Belichick says that he believes “the economics are going to change significantly from ’25 to ’26” as schools become more established in the revenue-sharing era of collegiate athletics.

Naturally, the Tar Heels’ 2026 roster isn’t fully known at this juncture, because North Carolina will see players depart after the upcoming campaign, while UNC will also land transfers via the portal in the following offseason.

At the prep level, though, the Tar Heels are faring well so far. North Carolina has 35 verbal pledges in its 2026 class. This UNC cycle ranks No. 18 around the country, according to the industry-generated 247Sports Composite. That includes five commits who are rated four stars on 247Sports.

Regarding revenue-sharing, Belichick doesn’t have a specific dollar amount for different position groups. He says the key is to have a balanced team consisting of talented players on offense, defense and special teams.

“Offensive and defensive lines are important,” said Belichick. “You’ve got to have that. You’ve got to have a quarterback, you’ve got to have somebody who can rush the passer, you need somebody that can cover and you need somebody that can score. The guards don’t score. So somebody’s got to be able to score a point. It’s not just that. But if you don’t have that, it makes everything else a lot harder.”

North Carolina opens its 2025 season at home against Big 12 Conference member TCU on Monday, Sept 1, with kick-off scheduled for 8 p.m. ET on ESPN.

The Tar Heels, which have one of the more intriguing quarterback competitions in college football, do not reside in the preseason Associated Press and Coaches top-25 polls. However, it is No. 8 in the Atlantic Coast Conference’s preseason media poll.