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Bill Belichick shocked the football world Thursday when it emerged that the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach interviewed for the North Carolina football head coaching job. With a handful of enticing NFL jobs open or soon-to-be-opening and Belichick just 26 victories shy of Don Shula's all-time wins record, everyone assumed that the former New England Patriots boss would take one of those jobs. However, Barstool Sports founder Dave Portnoy, of all people, shared an intriguing rumor as to why Belichick might actually replace Mack Brown at UNC.
“I heard, the reason [Bill Belichick] is interested — my sources tell me, and who knows if it's true — two years and he hands it over to his son [Steve Belichick],” Portnoy said on Barstool's The Unnamed Show.
Steve Belichick is currently the defensive coordinator at Washington under head coach Jedd Fisch after serving as a defensive assistant under his father for 12 years with the Patriots.
While the Huskies were 6-6 this season after appearing in last year's national championship game, the defense performed well under the younger Belichick. The team's offense was 110th (out of 137 FBS schools) but the defense allowed just 22.8 points per game, good for 47th overall in FBS.
Why Bill and Steve Belichick taking over to North Carolina football makes sense
It's still most likely that Bill Belichick will take over an NFL team this offseason to continue his assault on Shula's all-time win record and on his former quarterback Tom Brady's seven Super Bowl rings. However, a Bill and Steve Belichick move to the North Carolina football program does make sense on several levels.
First, despite being third all-time on the NFL all-time coaching wins list (after Shula and just 16 behind George Halas), the elder Belichick has nothing left to prove. He has the most Super Bowl wins of any head coach in history and is widely regarded as the best of all time. If he did come back to chase Shula's record, there is a pretty decent chance it could look more like Jimmy Johnson with the Dolphins than Shula with the Dolphins.
Plus, most NFL teams would likely shy away from giving Belichick full control of player personnel, like he had with the Patriots. With the new NIL rules, college football is now much more like the pros, and he would have control of every aspect of the UNC program.
Lastly, it would fast-track Steve Belichick through the ranks of football coaching. Bill's son will be 38 two years from now and leading a big-time ACC program if the Dave Portnoy rumor tracks. This seems like a lot much faster ascension than most would expect from a first-year college DC.
