New England Patriots
“He chose the wrong place. He’s tried to use the magic of yesteryear and it simply hasn’t worked.”
North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick. Adrian Kraus
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As Bill Belichick prepares for his second season as a college football coach, one expert on the sport is urging the 74-year-old coach to ponder retirement.
Belichick went 4-8 during his first season as head coach of the University of North Carolina football program last year. Oddsmakers aren’t expecting much improvement this season, setting the over/under for UNC wins at 4.5.
ESPN’s Paul Finebaum said the six-time Super Bowl championship coach’s storied career could be heading for a sad ending in Chapel Hill. Belichick’s college football coaching future is at stake this season, Finebaum said.
“No one is taking away his six Super Bowls, but ending like he is going to end is really embarrassing, sad, and in many ways pathetic,” Finebaum said during a recent appearance on “Get Up!”
Belichick became UNC’s head coach after he and the Patriots parted ways in 2024. The Patriots said at the time that it was a mutual decision to split. Team owner Robert Kraft later said it was a firing.
Belichick had interviewed for the Falcons head coaching vacancy that year, but Atlanta went with Raheem Morris instead. Atlanta fired Morris and GM Terry Fontenot this past January.
The Patriots posted a losing record in three of Belichick’s last four seasons with the franchise. New England went 4-13 under Belichick in 2023.
UNC, which fired Mack Brown before hiring Belichick, had gone 6-7 in 2024. The Tar Heels lost to UConn in the Fenway Bowl that year.
USA Today ranked UNC 14th among the 17 ACC football programs in its preseason rankings for this upcoming season.
“This didn’t have to happen. This only happened because he was bitter that he couldn’t get an NFL job,” Finebaum said of Belichick. “He chose the wrong place. He’s tried to use the magic of yesteryear and it simply hasn’t worked.”
UNC signed Belichick to a five-year deal worth $50 million in December of 2024. Last season, he sold the program as the “33rd NFL team.” He was a college football rookie then, after one of the most successful coaching careers in NFL history.
Now, in his second season, Belichick hopes to earn his first winning season as a college football coach.
“Five wins would be considered a success, and that would mean another embarrassment,” Finebaum said. “He won’t get fired but he should seriously consider retirement.”
Khari A. Thompson
Khari Thompson covers professional sports for Boston.com. Before joining the team in 2022, Khari covered college football for The Clarion Ledger in Jackson, Miss.
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