It has been less than six months since the North Carolina Tar Heels parted ways with former head coach Mack Brown and hired legendary NFL head coach Bill Belichick to take over the UNC football program.
Now, as scandal and drama unfold in Chapel Hill, Brown has made his opinions known about Belichick taking over his program.
“They’ve committed money to it, they’ve helped him with academics. They’ve lowered those standards some," Brown said. "So there’s absolutely no reason they shouldn’t be successful.”
Brown shared this message on SiriusXM College Sports Radio while discussing the Tar Heels with Dusty Dvoracek and Danny Kanell. The former UNC head coach didn't find a ton of success while coaching in Chapel Hill, but he did lead the Tar Heels to four winning seasons and a first-place finish in the 2022 ACC standings.
Is Bill Belichick at UNC good news for Duke?
Belichick brought a lot of attention to North Carolina when he agreed to be the head coach of the football program. He also brought in 41 transfer prospects to the program, while losing 41 players to the portal himself.
Meanwhile, Duke head coach Manny Diaz has stayed out of the limelight, bringing in nine blue-chip prospects from the transfer portal and five elite-level players in the class of 2025.
From losing their head coach to hiring one of the greatest head coaches of all time, to that head coach only bringing drama to Chapel so far, it has been a rollercoaster for the Tar Heels following the 2024 season.
Not receiving undeniable support from Brown isn't ideal for Belichick. At the end of the day, Brown won a National Championship less than two decades ago, leading the Texas Longhorns to victory in the BCS Championship Game over the USC Trojans.
Learning from Brown would give Belichick a better understanding of the collegiate game, which is still just college football despite the changes with the transfer portal, NIL deals, and more.
The Blue Devils and the Tar Heels are scheduled to play on Nov. 22, 2025, at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill. The kickoff time for the rivalry game has yet to be announced.