Six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick has agreed to a five-year contract to become the next coach at the University of North Carolina (UNC).
The college confirmed the signing Wednesday night, roughly a week after the 72-year-old Belichick’s name surfaced as an unlikely candidate to replace Mack Brown, the program’s most successful coach.
The deal requires the approval of UNC trustees, and Belichick’s disclosure press conference will be held in due course.
“I am excited about the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill,” he said.
“I grew up around college football with my dad and treasured those times. I’ve always wanted to coach in college and now look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.”
UNC Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham. “We know that college athletics is changing, and those changes require new and innovative thinking.
“Bill Belichick is a football legend, and hiring him to lead our program is a fresh approach that will ensure Carolina football thrives, competes and wins, today and into the future.”
The university announced last month that Brown would not return for a seventh season in his second stint in Chapel Hill.
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Back in January, Neil Reynolds reflected on Belichick’s incredible tenure in New England after it was announced he was leaving the Patriots after 24 seasons.
The move from Brown, 73, to hire Belichick, 72, means UNC is turning to a coach who has never worked at the college level but has had incredible success in the NFL with quarterback Tom Brady for most of his 24-year tenure. Part: Patriots, which ended last season.
Since then, Belichick has been linked to NFL jobs, most notably with the Atlanta Falcons in January.
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