Why is Bill Belichick coaching college football? Exploring the NFL legend's motives ahead of UNC debut

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- The grand Bill Belichick college football experiment begins Monday night. 

The greatest NFL coach of all-time will walk out in a sold-out Kenan Stadium and guide the North Carolina Tar Heels for the first time against TCU. 

We've had nine months to process Belichick in college football, and yet it still feels surreal. Is that AI or is Belichick actually recruiting 16- and 17-year olds? And the biggest question of them all -- why is the 73-year old even doing this? -- looms large. 

Handpicked by Bill Belichick, North Carolina QB Gio Lopez embraces challenge of living up to expectations

Chris Hummer

We asked a wide variety of people around college football and UNC that question, and the answers were mixed. 

Some believe he wants to set up his son, Steve, as a head coach once he leaves. Some believe that college football moved close enough to the NFL professionalization model that Belichick thought he could win. Others believe he was frustrated at his inability to get another NFL head coaching opportunity, and college football was a way for him to prove he still had it. 

Perhaps the answer is all of the above. 

One thing everyone agrees on: The relentlessly competitive Belichick is as hungry and fired up to win as ever. 

"For a man who has won eight Super Bowls, he thinks he hasn't won any," Michael Lombardi, UNC's general manager, told CBS Sports. "He's working for the next one."

Belichick dabbled in media last year in his gap year between his long, successful stint with the New England Patriots that included six Super Bowl wins and his North Carolina debut. He was pretty good at it, too, his wry sensibilities playing well on the ManningCast and with Pat McAfee. But those who have known him for more than 30 years like Rick Venturi, believed coaching would beckon Belichick to come back. 

"I always felt like it was just a matter of where and when he would be back in," said Venturi who worked with Belichick on the Cleveland Browns. "I think he's helped himself with his media jobs. I think he's humanized a little bit, and I think that was important. 

"Did I ever think it would be college football? That's an absolute no."

It isn't hard to find skeptics that this is going to work in Chapel Hill. From an unconventional hiring process to the decision to hire a 73-year old man who had never coached at the college level, UNC took a bold swing that came with risks. They went far outside the box and eschewed more traditional options like fast-rising Tulane coach Jon Sumrall. There is a track record of NFL coaches making the jump to considerable success at the college level, particularly Nick Saban and Pete Carroll, though the game has changed considerably since those made the move. UNC made Belichick one of the game's highest-paid coaches at $10 million annually and gave him a $15 million pool to hire assistants. 

One Power Four head coach told CBS Sports that new coaches and executives coming straight from the NFL were in for a rude awakening when they realized just how different college football still was in fundamental ways from the NFL. The academics, the dealing with players' parents, the bureaucratic nature of big public universities where you can't just snap your fingers and get what you want. "It's a lot more like the NFL than it's ever been," the coach said, "but it's still worlds apart in so many ways." 

Even Belichick experienced that, to an extent, when he realized early on he couldn't copy his friend and former Alabama football coach Nick Saban's practice plan this spring, according to sources, because of his team's already decided class schedules. There were limits to what even a powerful coach like Belichick could do at the college level compared to his setup with the Patriots. 

Perhaps the biggest question has been how Belichick would transition to recruiting and the unique aspects of this current college football world. Before he was officially hired at UNC, Rob Gronkowski, his legendary former tight end, wondered whether Belichick would be all-in on recruiting. "Me, personally," Gronkowski told Dan Patrick, "I can see him getting tired and old with all that transfer portal, NIL stuff going on." 

There have been bumps along the way, especially early on, but Belichick's UNC program has since settled in nicely. Belichick took over UNC after the early signing period occurred and with the December transfer portal window in full swing. That created an early challenge of trying to keep up with the rapid pace of free agency while simultaneously building out the coaching and personnel staffs. Belichick and his hand-picked GM Lombardi had studied college football and felt confident in their abilities to handle things like scouting and negotiating, but were still blind to certain aspects of portal recruiting, particularly the fast-paced and aggressive nature of it. 

"We didn't have a prior relationship with a lot of kids that entered the portal because we didn't recruit them," Lombardi told CBS Sports earlier this year. "Teams that recruited a kid that went into the portal, they had a relationship with him. He didn't go to your school but now he may want to come back. We didn't understand that as much."

They had a much better grasp on it in the spring window when they made a big bet that South Alabama quarterback transfer Gio Lopez can elevate the Tar Heels above the 6-7 2024 record that marked the end of the Mack Brown era in Chapel Hill. North Carolina loaded up in the transfer portal, bringing in 41 new players in a top-10 portal class. The majority of UNC's starting defense will likely be transfers, including Washington linebacker Khmori House, UConn defensive end Pryce Yates and East Carolina safety Gavin Gibson. 

"If you look at all the transfers, it's all in the quest to play in the National Football League," Venturi said. "Well, what guy in college football today knows more about pro football, has won more in the NFL and knows more about developing talent than Bill Belichick?"

Belichick can plunk down eight Super Bowl rings in front of a recruit and tell stories of coaching Gronk, Tom Brady and many others from his time in New England. He has pitched UNC as the 33rd NFL franchise to recruits, and has sold his NFL experience as why they should come to Chapel Hill. 

It's a difficult pitch to fight back against, though college coaches try their best. Bret Bielema, who worked for Belichick as the Patriots' defensive line coach, has the utmost respect for Belichick and called him "one of the greatest coaches I've ever been around." Still, when Bielema and Belichick were battling for a tight end this offseason, Bielema listed all the tight ends he had developed for the NFL and that the answer for Belichick was zero. He had only drafted them. 

"There's an aspect there that is completely different," Bielema said, "but he is so intelligent and so ahead of where he is. My guess is North Carolina's gonna have a lot of success."

We'll get the first data point on whether Bielema is right tonight when UNC plays what should be an improved TCU team that is a 3.5-point favorite over the Tar Heels. 

An eventful offseason will soon be in the rearview mirror, and the Hoodie will be back prowling the sidelines, looking for any tactical edge he can find. The biggest story in college football is in Chapel Hill, and all eyes are on Bill.