Colin Cowherd drew comparisons this week between Bill Belichick’s roster rebuild at North Carolina and the high-profile turnaround Deion Sanders engineered at Colorado.
Appearing on The Joel Klatt Show, Cowherd pointed to NIL and the transfer portal as the forces driving the similarities.
“NIL is his friend, because he can just write checks,” Cowherd said about Belichick. “I do not believe six years ago, Bill would have succeeded in college football. He is not going to eat his third pumpkin pie, knocking on doors in Shreveport. It is not happening now. He can buy guys. So NIL has made it very professional, and that is attractive to Bill.”
Cowherd highlighted the number of transfers Belichick has already brought to Chapel Hill, saying that 40 newcomers combined with limited practice time and sophisticated systems gave the situation “a Colorado feel.” He noted the irony that UNC opens its season against TCU with a three-point spread, the same scenario that Colorado faced when Sanders debuted against the Horned Frogs.
The conversation also addressed the excitement and uncertainty surrounding programs built through the portal. Cowherd predicted North Carolina would sell out games, boost television ratings, and become one of the sport’s more talked-about stories. At the same time, he wondered how much substance would remain at the end of the season, comparing it to Colorado’s flashy start under Sanders that raised questions about sustainability.
For contrast, Cowherd pointed to Texas, which took 10 transfers this year. In his view, single-digit additions are more manageable inside an 85-man roster. “Forty new players, limited practice time, sophisticated systems. It sounds choppy,” he said, cautioning that the results might not always match the headlines.
Even with those doubts, Cowherd concluded that both programs are better positioned now than before these changes. He credited boosters at Colorado and North Carolina for stepping forward to fund rosters with “very special players,” which allowed Sanders and Belichick to accelerate their rebuilds in a way that would not have been possible just a few years ago.
