Six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick has agreed to a five-year contract to become the next coach at the University of North Carolina (UNC).
The university confirmed the signing Wednesday night, about 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 would require approval from the UNC Board of Governors and a press conference unveiling Belichick at the appropriate time.
“I am very excited about the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill,” he said.
“I grew up playing college football with my dad and cherish those times. I’ve always wanted to coach in college and now I’m looking forward to building a football program in Chapel Hill.”
UNC Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham: “We know college athletics is changing, and these changes require new and innovative thinking.
“Bill Belichick is a football legend, and hiring him to lead our program signals a new approach that will ensure Carolina football can develop, compete and win now and into the future.”
The university announced last month that Brown would not return for a seventh season during his second tenure in Chapel Hill.
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Last January, upon hearing the news that Belichick was leaving the Patriots after 24 seasons, Neil Reynolds reflected on Belichick’s remarkable tenure in New England.
Hiring the 72-year-old Belichick over the 73-year-old Brown means UNC will turn to a coach who has never worked at the college level but has had surprising success with quarterback Tom Brady during his 24-year tenure in the NFL. Patriots at the end of last season.
Belichick has been linked to NFL jobs since then, most notably with the Atlanta Falcons in January.
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