Tag: Bill Belichick

Bill Belichick says focus on North Carolina’s next game, not Giants opening

Posted on | by Field Level Media

North Carolina coach Bill Belichick is looking west to the next game against Wake Forest and not well north at the vacant job with the New York Giants, he said on Tuesday.

The former longtime NFL coach, with six Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots, has a coaching history with the Giants, who fired Brian Daboll on Monday.

Belichick, 73, is in his first season as a college coach with the Tar Heels, who play Saturday against the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C. North Carolina is 4-5, 2-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after two consecutive victories over Syracuse and Stanford.

“Getting ready for Wake Forest, that’s all I got this week,” Belichick said at his Tuesday press conference in Chapel Hill, N.C.

While speculation has come from outside the program, Belichick was asked if players and recruits have brought up his possible return to the NFL and New York.

“I’ve been asked about it from time to time,” Belichick said. “Look, I’ve been down this road before. I’m focused on Wake Forest, that’s it. That’s my commitment to this team. This week it’s Wake Forest, next week it’s that opponent and so forth. I’m here to do the best for this team.”

Sportsbooks have Belichick with longer odds than Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, a former NFL head coach who coached Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart last season in Oxford, Miss. Kiffin, who coached the Raiders from 2007-08, also has been suggested for various prominent openings at the college level.

Belichick might have motivation to return to the NFL to add to his legacy. Only Don Shula (328-156-6) and George Halas (318-148-31) have more regular-season wins in NFL history than Belichick, who was 302-165 in 29 seasons with the Cleveland Browns (1991-95) and Patriots (2000-2023). He has the most career playoff wins (31-13 record) in collecting Super Bowl titles with the Patriots in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

He was a defensive assistant and special teams coach with the Giants in 1979-84 before taking over as defensive coordinator from 1985-90 — winning Super Bowls in the 1986 and 1990 seasons under head coach Bill Parcells. Belichick also was assistant head coach/defensive coordinator of the New York Jets from 1997-99.

–Field Level Media

Bill Belichick among 9 coach semifinalists for Hall of Fame

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick is among nine coaches still in the running for the Pro Football Hall of Fame Class of 2026.

The nine semifinalists announced Wednesday are Belichick, Tom Coughlin, Mike Holmgren, Chuck Knox, Buddy Parker, Dan Reeves, Marty Schottenheimer, George Seifert and Mike Shanahan.

The Coach Blue-Ribbon Committee initially narrowed the list from 15 nominees to 12 in late October. The committee will meet virtually in mid-November to select one finalist for the Class of 2026, to be enshrined in August in Canton, Ohio.

Coaches previously had to be retired for at least five years before becoming eligible, but the Hall of Fame announced in August 2024 the rule was changed to one year.

Belichick, who parted ways with the New England Patriots in January 2024, was not eligible for the 2025 class because the selection process already had begun.

Only Don Shula (328-156-6) and George Halas (318-148-31) have more regular-season wins in NFL history than Belichick, who was 302-165 in 29 seasons with the Cleveland Browns (1991-95) and Patriots (2000-23). He has the most career playoff wins (31-13 record) in collecting Super Bowl titles with the Patriots in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

Belichick, 73, currently is the head coach at the University of North Carolina.

Six of the nine coaches in the semifinals won at least one Super Bowl or NFL title game: Coughlin (2007, 2011), Holmgren (1996), Seifert (1989, 1994), Shanahan (1997, 1998) and Parker (league championships in 1952, 1953).

Holmgren was the finalist for the Class of 2025, Parker in 2020 and 2024, and Reeves in 2020.

Voting for modern-era players, seniors and contributors also is taking place, with 20 finalists eventually submitted for the selection committee’s annual meeting in advance of the Super Bowl.

The selection committee will vote on 15 modern-era players, three seniors, one coach and one contributor, but no set number is required to be enshrined — only a range of four to eight to be selected.

–Field Level Media

Sep 13, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick on the sidelines in the second quarter at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Bill Belichick says ‘no truth’ to report he wants out at UNC

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After releasing a statement last week saying he is committed to continuing as North Carolina’s head coach, Bill Belichick reiterated the sentiment during his press availability Monday.

A report from the Guardian last week said that Belichick, 73, expressed potential interest in finding a coaching or media job that could offset the $1 million buyout he would owe North Carolina if he leaves for another job.

“That’s just categorically false,” Belichick told reporters in the team’s first media availability following a bye last week. “There’s no truth to that. I’m glad I’m here.”

His words Monday echoed his statement Wednesday.

“I’m fully committed to UNC Football and the program we are building here,” read a statement on the Tar Heels’ X account from Belichick.

Athletic director Bubba Cunningham added in a statement on the same social media post: “Coach Belichick has the full support of the Department of Athletics and University.”

Belichick’s first season coaching college football after winning eight Super Bowls (six as a head coach, two as a defensive coordinator) has been less than ideal.

The Tar Heels fell to 2-3 after a 38-10 home loss to Clemson on Oct. 4. North Carolina has lost all three of its games against Power 4 competition by a combined margin of 120-33. They are 0-1 in Atlantic Coast Conference play.

The team will travel to the West Coast this week to face Cal 4-1 (1-1 ACC) on Saturday at Berkeley, Calif.

–Field Level Media

Oct 28, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a North Carolina Tar Heels helmet on the field before a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Report: UNC assistant Armond Hawkins suspended for illegal benefits

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North Carolina cornerbacks coach Armond Hawkins has been suspended for illegal benefits, according to a report by the Athletic.

Hawkins reportedly provided sideline passes for a North Carolina football game to a player’s family members, which is an NCAA rule violation.

Hawkins is in his first season as an on-field coach in college football. He came to Chapel Hill with North Carolina defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, who was previously defensive coordinator for the Washington Huskies.

Hawkins has previously worked as a director of high school relations at USC (2020-21), assistant recruiting coordinator at Colorado (2022), assistant director of recruiting/defensive analyst at Arizona (2023) and defensive analyst at Washington (2024).

The report did not indicate if a length for the suspension has been assessed or if it’s an indefinite suspension.

This is the latest misstep in what has been a snafu-laden debut season of NFL legend Bill Belichick’s first season leading the Tar Heels, who fell to 2-3 after Saturday’s 38-10 home loss to Clemson. North Carolina has lost its three games against Power Four competition by a combined score of 120-33.

On Monday, it was reported that Bill Belichick was not allowing staff members to share anything related to the New England Patriots, with whom he won six Super Bowls before a sour 2023 ending, on social media.

That meant that North Carolina’s social media accounts did not share anything about former QB Drake Maye’s stellar Sunday Night Football performance until after this was reported.

Belichick has also admitted publicly that Patriots scouts are not permitted to attend Tar Heel practices to scout his players.

North Carolina has a bye this weekend before it plays at Cal on Oct. 17.

–Field Level Media

UNC football coach Bill Belichick during a press conference on Aug. 13, 2025, inside the Bill Koman Practice Complex.

Bill Belichick’s debut UNC season will be documented in Hulu series

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After an earlier project fell through, there indeed will be a docuseries covering Bill Belichick’s first season as North Carolina head football coach this fall.

Belichick, a first-time college coach who won a record six Super Bowls as head coach of the New England Patriots, told the team in a clip posted to UNC football’s social media accounts Sunday that UNC’s 2025 season will be broadcast in a docuseries on Hulu.

This news comes five months after a reported deal for HBO’s “Hard Knocks: Offseason” to document UNC’s season fell through. The Athletic reported that deal wasn’t finalized because of concerns surrounding Belichick’s girlfriend Jordon Hudson’s desired involvement on the creative side of the project.

Hudson has been a major talking point of the offseason, establishing herself as a presence in Belichick’s media appearances and business matters. It reached a point where UNC had to release a statement refuting a report that Hudson was no longer welcome inside the school’s football facilities.

On the field, Belichick brought 71 new players (41 transfers, 30 high-school signees) into the program this offseason. The Tar Heels were picked to finish eighth in the Atlantic Coast Conference by media voters.

No information has been shared yet about when the series will premiere, with Belichick simply saying that it will be later this fall.

–Field Level Media

UNC football coach Bill Belichick during a press conference on Aug. 13, 2025, inside the Bill Koman Practice Complex.

Bill Belichick won’t appear weekly on UNC’s coach’s radio show

Posted on | by Field Level Media

First-year North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick will appear on the opening installment of the traditional weekly coach’s radio show, but that’s it.

Formerly known as “Mack Brown Live,” the show has been renamed “Carolina Football Live” and will continue to be aired weekly from a restaurant and brewery near the North Carolina campus in Chapel Hill, the university said in a news release.

Belichick will take the coach’s seat for the first show of the season, set for Aug. 27 ahead of the season opener against TCU. After that, the show will air on Mondays and look at the Tar Heels’ game the past weekend and the one the weekend ahead.

North Carolina general manager Michael Lombardi will be the headliner each week, joined by assistant coaches and players. Belichick will sit alongside Lombardi for the first edition. Jones Angell, the radio play-by-play announcer for the Tar Heels, hosts the one-hour show.

While appearing on a weekly radio show is a contract requirement for many college football coaches, it is not in the case of Belichick. His contract stipulates only that he make appearances “as reasonably requested by the University.”

Belichick, 73, has not been a head coach of a college program before this season. He led the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl championships from 2000-23.

North Carolina and TCU meet Sept. 1 in Chapel Hill. There is great anticipation for Belichick’s first season, with all tickets to home games sold out.

–Field Level Media

Jan 20, 2019; Kansas City, MO, USA; New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick and quarterback Tom Brady (12) celebrate the win over the Kansas City Chiefs during overtime in the AFC Championship game at Arrowhead Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Brady: Belichick’s challenge at UNC is working with 17- and 18-year-olds

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Tom Brady knows better than most what it’s like to play for Bill Belichick, which informs his confidence in his former coach’s first foray into the college ranks as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Brady, who won six of his seven Super Bowl championships as quarterback of Belichick’s New England Patriots, declared he’s part of the large group intrigued to see how Belichick coaches college players in Chapel Hill, N.C. — a.k.a. “Chapel Bill.”

“What they’re gonna get is, obviously, the most prepared, the most hard-working coach that I’d ever been around,” Brady said during the latest episode of “The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast,” which was released on Monday.

“If you go to that school, you will be prepared to play at the next level. He’s gonna teach you the right fundamentals, the right techniques. He’s gonna have a high expectation for you and you’re gonna develop a lot. That’s what I know.”

North Carolina signed Belichick, 73, to a five-year deal through the 2029 season to replace Mack Brown. He will earn $10 million a year, plus up to $3.5 million in performance incentives. The first three years of the contract are guaranteed.

Belichick won six Super Bowls in 24 seasons with the Patriots while compiling an 302-165 regular-season record as head coach for the Cleveland Browns (1991-95) and Patriots (2000-23).

“I think the challenge for him is he’s dealing with a lot of, probably, under-developed players, because he’s dealt with guys that are four, five, six years further along than what he’s normally had to deal with. So I think there’s probably a learning curve for him,” Brady said on the podcast.

“And this is just me hypothesizing — I don’t have much knowledge of it — but I’m sure it’s different coaching a 17- or 18-year-old than even a 22- or 23-year-old. So, there’s probably just less physically developed and he’s a very deep thinker of the sport.”

Since last spring, North Carolina’s players have been working in what has been called an NFL-style program to prepare for the season opener on Sept. 1 at home against TCU.

“I think what makes Coach Belichick so unbelievable, tactically, (is) he can break down an opponent. He watches so much film. He is so smart with how he approaches defensive schemes and offensive schemes,” Brady said.

“How much can these young kids retain? That may be an interesting challenge as well because, in some ways, they’re not professionals. They don’t have as much time as we had as professional athletes to go in there and study film and practice and meet and all that. They don’t have that amount of time at the college level.”

Brady, 48, played for the Patriots from 2000-19 and won Super Bowls in the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons before capturing another league championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. A three-time NFL MVP, Brady retired after the 2022 season with three first-team All-Pro and 15 Pro Bowl selections.

–Field Level Media

Dec 14, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head football coach Bill Belichick during half time at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Tickets sold out for ‘Chapel Bill’ Belichick’s debut season at North Carolina

Posted on | by Field Level Media

The debut season of coach Bill Belichick at North Carolina is a home sellout.

The university announced Wednesday that all season and single-game tickets at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill have been sold.

The school, instead, is directing fans seeking tickets to SeatGeek, the official resale marketplace of the Tar Heels.

The home season begins Sept. 1 with a nonconference game against TCU. Also visiting Chapel Hill in 2025 are Richmond (Sept. 13), Clemson (Oct. 4), Virginia (Oct. 25), Stanford (Nov. 8) and Duke (Nov. 22).

The Tar Heels signed Belichick, 73, to a five-year deal through the 2029 season to replace Mack Brown. He will earn $10 million a year, plus up to $3.5 million in performance incentives. The first three years of the contract are guaranteed.

Belichick won six Super Bowl championships as the head coach of the New England Patriots and two more as an assistant coach with the New York Giants.

Interest in “Chapel Bill” and the Tar Heels is so high that multiple outlets reported last week the start of production on a docuseries that will chronicle the North Carolina season and later stream on Hulu.

–Field Level Media

Dec 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick speaks to those attending his hiring announcement at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

UNC coach Bill Belichick preparing for season, drowning out ‘noise’

Posted on | by Field Level Media

Bill Belichick said he’s put up with outside chatter throughout his career and isn’t about to let it derail his mission of rebuilding the football program at North Carolina.

“I’m really focused on doing my job here at Carolina, to help our football team, and just to get better every day, to stack those days together, training days, preparation days, days out on the field. And we’ve done that,” he said Tuesday at a news conference in Chapel Hill, N.C.

“So that’s my big focus. I mean, is there noise out there? We’ve always dealt with that. Really our job is to build the football team also build their individual career. So that’s really where we’re at.”

There has been plenty of noise surrounding the 73-year-old NFL legend since he was hired in December to lead the Tar Heels. Much of it has focused on his personal relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, and he shifted away from talk to about her; all he confirmed is “she doesn’t have any role in the UNC football program,” as some speculated she did. Instead, he focused on topics such as the Tar Heels’ quarterback room, building a team in the transfer portal era and the excitement of working on a college campus.

Assembling the team has been an undertaking. Many of the players who were part of coach Mack Brown’s (6-7, 3-5 Atlantic Coast Conference) 2024 team are gone.

“Lot of new faces since the end of last season, it’s been a lot of turnover, almost two thirds of the roster from where it was in January,” he said.

“A lot of new faces — but definitely coming together. Training has been good. We made a lot of improvement. It’s good team chemistry, a lot of individual improvement. Obviously we got a long way to go, but we’re working hard and making progress, and so we’re excited about that.”

Belichick isn’t clear yet who will start at quarterback. Max Johnson, entering his sixth college season and at his third school, suffered a season-ending knee injury in the opening win against Minnesota in 2024. South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez also is on board.

“We’ve got some freshmen, we’ve got Max who has got some experience, and Gio — we’ll see how it all plays out honestly,” Belichick said. “You know, none of them, with the exception of Max for a handful of plays last year, none of them have really taking any snaps here. So it’ll be good to see how all that plays out.”

Belichick said his team is continuing to evolve, even with the Sept. 1 opener against TCU not far off. He’s not quite sure just what he’s got.

“We’ll have a lot better idea in training camp. There were several players that left the team after spring ball, and then we have a lot of new ones, a lot of new faces, both incoming freshmen and players who came from transfers. And so we’ll just have to see how all that plays out. I think where we were then, and honestly, where we are even today, is we’re at a different spot,” he said.

“So it’ll be interesting to see how it all comes together. We’ve got a lot of work to do, but it’s certainly trending in the right direction.”

–Field Level Media

Feb 6, 2025; New Orleans, LA, USA; Bill Belichick and Jordon Hudson on the red carpet before Super Bowl LIX NFL Honors at Saenger Theatre. Mandatory Credit: Kirby Lee-Imagn Images

Bill Belichick cuts off ‘personal’ questions on ‘GMA’ appearance

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Bill Belichick eventually cut off personal questions and told “Good Morning America” host Michael Strahan he wouldn’t further discuss his relationship with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson in a televised interview Friday morning.

The North Carolina head coach, on a publicity tour to promote his memoir “The Art of Winning: Lessons from a Life in Football,” said Hudson brings him balance and has been “terrific through the whole process, and she’s been very helpful to me.”

“We have a good personal relationship, and you know I’m not talking about personal relationships, Michael,” the 73-year-old Belichick said.

Hudson and Belichick’s relationship has been a hot topic around football and in popular culture discussions for months, and recently became even more prevalent when she began cutting off questions to Belichick during a recent junket interview with CBS Sunday Morning.

North Carolina administrators denied reports the university banned Hudson from the football program, and Belichick said Friday that she continues to have an important role.

“She does the business things that don’t relate to North Carolina that come up in my life so I can concentrate on football. And that’s what I really want to do,” he said.

In the Sunday Morning interview, CBS journalist Tony Dokoupil asked Belichick how he met Hudson. She quickly shut down the question.

“We’re not talking about this,” she said.

Dokoupil turned to her and asked, “No?”

Belichick claimed in a statement two days later that his publisher and CBS had an agreement to only discuss his book in the interview. CBS refuted the claim later the same day.

–Field Level Media