After Bill Belichick spent nearly a quarter century on the sidelines as head coach of the New England Patriots and 48 years overall as an NFL coach, it may be hard to picture him coaching University of North Carolina football.
The new Tar Heels head coach is out on the recruiting trail and there's now photographic evidence that this jarring reality is, in fact, just that.
2026 defensive end Zavion Griffin-Haynes, a four-star recruit and one-time UNC commit, posted a photo of himself with Belichick on Monday morning. The Tar Heels remain in the running for Griffin-Haynes' services, though On3 also lists Ohio State as a major player in his recruitment.
Belichick, donning an ill-fitting suit and tie, was all smiles next to Griffin-Haynes and UNC assistant director of Player Personnel Andrew Blaylock in the photo op from his Rolesville High School in North Carolina, about a 50-minute drive from Chapel Hill.
“How we looking UNC Fans ??” Griffin-Haynes captioned the post.
The high school junior told On3 that UNC hiring Belichick kept the Tar Heels alive in his recruitment.
“It’s a great feeling knowing that a great coach is coming to UNC to keep the program alive,” he said. “Knowing that I just de-committed they’re still pushing at me hard and staying in contact so that still keeps them a top school for me.”
He added in an interview with Rivals that Belichick was able to tell him things no other coach had been able to.




“Showing me stuff about my game, and just telling me stuff about the NFL and the program’s come up,” he added.
Bill Belichick is rebuilding the upcoming North Carolina football recruiting classes

Player turnover is nearly inevitable when a football program undergoes a coaching change and North Carolina is no different after it fired Mack Brown. But it helps to have a legend taking over, and UNC has added 11 players for next year already since Belichick was introduced as head coach on December 11.
His excursion to visit Griffin-Haynes marks the first known high school recruiting visit for the first-year coach.
While Griffin-Haynes ranks as the 17th-best player at his position and 10th-best in the state, per On3, the recruiting service also pointed out that the state of North Carolina is loaded with talent. 17 players from the Tar Heel State rank in On3's top 350 national rankings, including a pair of five-stars in quarterback Faizon Brandon (Tennessee commit) and tight end Kendre Harrison (Oregon commit). On3 speculates that UNC could try to flip both.