The Big Lead

Author predicted Bill Belichick's college coaching move nearly 20 years ago

By Joe Lago

Dec 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick holds up the sweatshirt worn by his father when he was an assistant coach at New North Carolina Tar Heels new at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
Dec 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick holds up the sweatshirt worn by his father when he was an assistant coach at New North Carolina Tar Heels new at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
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Bill Belichick was introduced as North Carolina's new head football coach on Thursday, capping a stunning turn of events for the 72-year-old coaching legend. Instead of returning to the NFL to pursue Don Shula's all-time wins record, Belichick will focus on NIL to build a winning roster in Chapel Hill.

Belichick's change of heart about coaching in the pros was shocking, but the author of his authorized biography predicted the New England Patriots icon's move to the college ranks nearly 20 years ago.

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In the 2006 book "The Education of a Coach," the late David Halberstam concluded that Belichick is "really a coach and a teacher," and he envisioned a scenario where Belichick would want "to go teach" in college after "he's done it and won X rings" in the pros.

Halberstam had enough insight to predict how Belichick would reach the decision. "I'm going to do something smaller, without as much pressure," Halberstam wrote about Belichick's rationale.

Michael Lombardi, the longtime NFL personnel man who worked with Belichick on the Cleveland Browns and Patriots, will serve as general manager of the UNC football program. He will help Belichick navigate the NIL landscape by creating infrastructure similar to the NFL.

In an interview with VSiN, Lombardi recalled a moment during a 1992 scouting trip in North Carolina that foreshadowed Belichick's desire to coach in college at some point.

"We stayed at the Carolina Inn, which is right on campus. ... We set up a little office down there, we watched tape all day, we went for a jog, we went to a baseball game," Lombardi recalled. "And we both looked at each other ... and we said, 'How the hell can't they win here?"

"That's a true story," Lombardi said. "That is really what sparked this."

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