Duke rival's new head football coach throws major shade at Blue Devils in first interview

Duke's arch rival in all of its sports, North Carolina, recently hired legendary NFL head coach Bill Belichick to be the program's next head coach after Belichick ended his NFL days in 2023, for now at least.

This is one of the more intrguing head coaching signings of the college football offseason, but Belichick expressed his long-term desire to coach in the college game.

The Tar Heels brought Belichick in after firing Mack Brown, who was in his second stint as UNC football head coach. His first was between 1988-1997 and he returned in 2019 after resigning from coaching at Texas from 1998-2013.

Brown went 44-32 overall as head coach of the Tar Heels, but the program struggled in 2024 finishing 6-6 on the season and 3-5 in ACC play.

Now, UNC brings in arguably the greatest NFL head coach of all time in Belichick.

It looks like Belichick already has his priorities straight just days after becoming head coach of the Tar Heels.

When he was introduced as the next UNC head football coach on Thursday, Belichick began talking about his childhood and how he grew up around college football and the Carolina football program.

He then told a story that he hears over and over again that immediately picks a fight with Duke fans.

"One story I always heard was, 'Billy's first words were beat Duke.'"

In his introduction as the next North Carolina head coach, Belichick didn't wait long at all to show Duke fans where his head's at and what his priorities were.

I'm sure Belichick got exactly what he wanted out of this. Instantly winning over the UNC fan base and instantly making the Duke fan base hate him. This is what college football is all about.

Now those in Chapel Hill and those in Durham wait for the first time Belichick comes to Wallace Wade Stadium. That won't happen in 2025 as the Blue Devils will go to Chapel Hill for the lone matchup between the rivals, but Belichick has a lot of 'boos' awaiting him in 2026.