Bill Belichick has officially agreed to a deal to become the next head coach at North Carolina, and no one has had a tougher time digesting the news than Kliff Kingsbury.
Kingsbury, the offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders, is one of very few current NFL coaches who have extensive experience at both the professional and collegiate levels. On Thursday, Kingsbury was asked for his thoughts on Belichick coaching in college. He said he is not going to believe it until he sees Belichick on the sideline during a game.
“I will have to see him on the sideline to believe that’s happening,” Kingsbury said. “We’ll see how the NFL job search goes and all that. I will have to see him on the sideline coaching in Chapel Hill to believe that’s happening.”
Kingsbury was then asked about how much college football has changed even since he was the head coach at Texas Tech in 2018. He said he cannot envision Belichick recruiting players in the NIL era.
“I don’t see my man going into any home visits or doing like the cocktail hour after the visits. I just don’t,” Kingsbury added. “Maybe he’ll set it up like an NFL deal, but I have to see it to believe it.”
“I don’t see my man going to any home visits or doing like the cocktail hour after the visits”
-Kliff Kingsbury on Bill Belichick becoming head coach of @UNCFootball
Great stuff from Kliff, questions from @BenStandig @JPFinlayNBCS #RaiseHail#CarolinaFootball #ChapelBill pic.twitter.com/T5v9zz2VOR
— NBC4 Sports (@NBC4Sports) December 12, 2024
Unlike many other coaches, Belichick seems to view the recent changes to college football as a positive. His only real experience is coaching in the NFL, and college football is more like the NFL now than it ever was in the past. There will be questions about whether UNC can give him all the resources he needs, but Belichick apparently believes that they can.
Kingsbury certainly is not the only one who is in disbelief over Belichick’s new career choice. One of Belichick’s reported reasons for taking the UNC job has some people wondering if the 72-year-old is truly done with the NFL.
