Why Bill Belichick’s College Football Gamble at UNC Is Backfiring

Bill Belichick’s time in North Carolina has been nothing short of an unmitigated disaster.

It’s becoming fair to question whether Belichick is cut out for coaching college football. And that has little to do with the 48-14 blowout on national television in their matchup with TCU on Monday night.

ESPN reported that the early days of Belichick’s tenure at UNC were chaotic.

"It was very stressful," said a former member of the staff. "Everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off."

But things haven’t quite been corrected since then. It’s been well documented that Belichick’s love interest, 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, has an active role in the program despite having no prior football experience.

According to recent reports, Belichick has banned his former employer, the New England Patriots, from sending credentialed scouts to UNC practices. In general, NFL scouts have had a difficult time getting access to players at North Carolina during Belichick’s tenure.

That doesn’t bode well for UNC’s six-time Super Bowl champion coach, who hasn’t seen a significant uptick in recruiting or transfer portal additions since taking over the program in December.

Why would high school recruits want to play at a school where NFL scouts can’t see them? Why would transfer portal candidates consider UNC if they wouldn’t be getting more exposure?

Belichick’s last few years in the NFL were underwhelming. Many people wondered if he could find success in football without Tom Brady, who went on to quarterback the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to a Super Bowl victory after leaving New England.

The 73-year-old fired nearly the entire staff upon arriving in Chapel Hill. He wanted to bring in his own people. That’s the sort of thing you can do when you’re making $10 million to coach a college football team.

His son Steve is the new defensive coordinator, earning $1.3 million annually. His other son, Brian, who is coaching defensive backs, is rumored to be making about half a million annually. Longtime NFL crony and new UNC football general manager Michael Lombardi is making $1.5 million.

The Tar Heels are carelessly throwing around money in an attempt to become a football school to complement their basketball powerhouse.

Nobody’s writing off one of the greatest football coaches of all time after just one loss to a decent TCU squad. They still have 11 more games to figure this thing out.

But what made Belichick great was his ability to maintain an unprecedented level of control over outside distractions.

So far, his UNC tenure has been nothing but distractions. And many are still left wondering whether he can figure out life after Brady.