Bill Belichick is a school soccer coach. That is a sentence that’s factually correct, as Belichick has been employed as North Carolina’s new head man in a surprising transfer made official Wednesday.
Belichick, 72, who labored within the NFL in some capability from 1975 via 2023 and received six Super Bowls as the pinnacle coach of the New England Patriots, has by no means coached in faculty soccer. He did spend a while across the sport this fall along with his son Stephen, who was the defensive coordinator on the University of Washington, however he’ll study much more in regards to the variations between faculty and professional soccer quickly sufficient.
And although there’s a story surrounding Belichick’s stunning transfer that means that it’s a step again from teaching within the NFL, it’s actually not true. College soccer isn’t the junior varsity model of the game. It’s truly tougher.
College soccer is extra sophisticated than its skilled counterpart in some vital methods, as coaches report to college presidents and boards of trustees along with athletic division officers. They are anticipated to wine, dine and dazzle donors. They journey all around the nation to recruit youngsters and spend the remainder of the time constructing relationships with the 18- to 22-year-olds on their rosters, frightened that they could switch out of their applications or demand extra financial compensation at any level. They’re normal managers, chief advertising officers and — oh, yeah — soccer coaches all on the identical time.
That’s the world that Belichick is wading into.
The most vital factor to him is that he’s going to educate soccer once more. It’s clear he has wished to get again onto the sidelines ever since his ugly breakup with the Patriots on the finish of the 2023 season. But he didn’t land an NFL gig final offseason, and he apparently didn’t need to wait a couple of weeks to see whether or not there was a marketplace for his providers within the professionals. This transfer, as uncommon as it’s, does get him his favourite moniker again: Coach.
The pure follow-up query is clear: Is he prepared for the remainder of it? The Patriots Way isn’t going to work in Chapel Hill. Belichick must spherical out these tough edges to construct relationships with recruits and faculty youngsters. He’ll take care of time constraints with faculty gamers that he by no means needed to with professionals. He’ll additionally use his unimaginable soccer thoughts to judge expertise, develop gamers and scheme up methods to place them in the very best place to succeed.
The man who will go down as the best coach in NFL historical past will attempt to mirror what made Nick Saban the best coach in faculty soccer historical past. And he’ll lean on his NFL expertise as faculty soccer continues to maneuver towards knowledgeable mannequin.
Beginning subsequent fall, faculties can share as much as $20 million in income immediately with their very own athletes every year. And, after all, identify, picture and likeness offers will live on. Belichick’s expertise with roster administration and NFL free company ought to assist.
So will the attraction that’s Belichick himself. Much like Deion Sanders singularly commanded an unimaginable quantity of consideration when he was employed by Colorado, the focus will now be insanely shiny in Chapel Hill. Media members will flock to campus and canopy each twist and switch of an unprecedented offseason. And nice gamers will need to study from Belichick, even when UNC hasn’t traditionally been superb in soccer.
“Let me put this in capital letters, if, ‘I. F.,’ I used to be in a school program, that faculty program can be a pipeline to the NFL for gamers that had capacity to play within the NFL,” Belichick mentioned this week on “The Pat McAfee Show,” earlier than he finalized the take care of UNC. “It can be knowledgeable program: coaching, vitamin, scheme, teaching, strategies that might switch to the NFL. It will likely be an NFL program at a school degree.
“I really feel very assured that I’ve the contacts within the NFL to pave the way in which for these gamers that might have the chance to compete within the National Football League.”
If this experiment works as supposed, that’s precisely what is going to occur. But it’s thought of a surprising transfer for a purpose — there’s a substantial amount of danger to go together with the potential reward right here. And it’s going to be quite a bit messier and considerably tougher than even Belichick most likely realizes.
Nicole Auerbach is the Lead College Football and Basketball Insider for NBC Sports. For the most recent information in faculty soccer, in addition to protection of the 2024-25 College Football Playoff, subscribe to “Rushing the Field” with Auerbach and Joshua Perry on Apple, Spotify and YouTube.