Former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick said Monday he has had “a couple of good conversations” with North Carolina Chancellor Lee Roberts amid his discussions about the Tar Heels’ head-coaching job.
Speaking on ESPN’s “The Pat McAfee Show,” Belichick said he had spent the 11 months since his departure from the Patriots taking a “longer look” at college football throughout the season as opposed to during the spring lead-up to the draft as a pro coach.
“So it’s been, it’s been a good year for me. I’ve learned a lot,” Belichick said. “So I’ve had the opportunity to talk to Chancellor Roberts and we’ve had a couple of good conversations. So we’ll see how it goes.”
Belichick opted not to go into more detail when asked by McAfee. Instead, Belichick offered a quip about his reputation for giving terse responses during news conferences with the Patriots.
“Yeah, let’s just leave it at that, Pat,” Belichick said with a grin. “I mean, I don’t want to give out too much information. I want to get my press conference aura back.”
Inside Carolina first reported that Belichick had interviewed with UNC last week, a report later confirmed by The Associated Press, as the Tar Heels seek a replacement for Mack Brown. The school fired its all-time winningest coach and College Football Hall of Famer, announcing Nov. 26 he wouldn’t return for a seventh season in his second stint with the school.
Brown coached his finale in the Nov. 30 loss to rival N.C. State.
Moving on from the 73-year-old Brown to hire the 72-year-old Belichick would mean UNC is turning to a coach who has never worked at the college level, yet had incredible NFL success alongside quarterback Tom Brady throughout most of his 24-year tenure with the Patriots that ended last season.
In the time since, he had been linked to NFL jobs, notably the Atlanta Falcons in January.
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