Bill Belichick interviews for North Carolina football job in shocker

Coaching legend Bill Belichick may be one step closer to getting back on the sidelines, but not where many would have predicted he’d end up. 

Belichick interviewed this week for the head coaching job at North Carolina this week, Inside North Carolina reported on Thursday. 

The six-time Super Bowl champion winning coach is said to be one of several candidates the school has spoken with since it fired Mack Brown on Nov. 26. 

Among the others that UNC has interviewed are Tulane head coach Jon Sumrall and Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann, but Belichick instantaneously becomes the biggest name connected to the vacancy. 

A separate report by The News and Observer’s Andrew Carter suggested that Belichick’s interest in the position is “high and genuine” and that UNC officials were blown away during the interview. 

However, Belichick’s age and lack of experience in coaching college football would make the hiring “extremely unlikely.” 

Expectations had always been that Belichick would return to coaching – though some recent reporting indicated that his relationship with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson could play a factor in his future in coaching – and many believed it would be at the NFL level. 

Even recently, Belichick’s name started to appear in connection to a potential opening in Jacksonville if the Jaguars decide to move on from Doug Pederson. 

Belichick had coached the Patriots for 24 seasons before the two sides agreed to part ways after last season when the team went 4-13 in a disastrous year for New England.

The future Hall-of-Fame head coach had been interviewed for the Falcons job shortly after the spit from the Pats, but the job ultimately went to Raheem Morris, who had been the Rams’ defensive coordinator before getting the job in Atlanta. 

Up until the report, it wasn’t believed that Belichick had been connected to any college coaching openings. 

Belichick has publicly focused on his multiple media ventures during the 2024 football season, 

The once rough-and-tumble coach, who often kept the media at arm’s length during his coaching days, has become a regular on “The Pat McAfee Show,” has been hosting a podcast with Underdog Fantasy, appears on the CW’s “Inside the NFL” and even joined Instagram. 

Belichick’s relationship with Hudson has also been tabloid fodder since it became public knowledge over the summer after TMZ broke the story of the love affair, though the two had been reportedly been quietly dating since 2022. 

In mid-October, a report by The Daily Mail suggested that Belichick was at a “bit of a crossroads” due to his happiness with the relationship with the former college cheerleader 48 years his junior. 

A report by The Athletic the following month quoted a source as saying that “coaching is in his blood,” indicating that Belichick wasn’t wavering from the idea of returning to a football sideline in 2025.