Tom Brady Breaks Down Bill Belichick’s Bold Leap to UNC — And What Comes Next

Tom Brady is just as intrigued as we all are about his former head coach’s foray into the college game.

In the most recent episode of “The Joel Klatt Show: Big Noon Conversations,” Brady shared that he’s “very interested” to see how Bill Belichick does at North Carolina. But as he expects Tar Heels players to be coached well, there is one area that Brady could see Belichick needing some time to adjust to. 

“What they’re going to get is, obviously, the most prepared, the most hard-working coach that I had ever been around,” Brady said. “If you go to that school, you will be prepared to play at the next level. He’s going to teach you the right fundamentals, the right techniques. He’s going to have a high expectation for you, and you’re going to develop a lot. That’s what I know. 

“I think the challenge for him is he’s dealing with a lot of probably underdeveloped players, because he’s dealt with guys that are four, five, six years further along than what he’s normally had to deal with. So I think there’s probably a learning curve for him, and this is just me hypothesizing. I don’t have much knowledge of it, but I’m sure it’s different coaching a 17 or 18-year-old than even a 22 or 23-year-old.”

Belichick, who won six Super Bowls as Brady’s head coach with the New England Patriots, has never coached college football. Beyond the obvious difference in the ages of the players, the college game offers several challenges the NFL doesn’t. Student-athletes have a practice time limit during the season and can’t watch film for hours on end with their coaches.

As Belichick battles those time constraints, Brady wondered how that’s going to impact his old coach from getting the most out of his top trait. 

“He’s a very deep thinker of the sport,” Brady said. “I think what makes Coach Belichick so unbelievable, tactically, he can break down an opponent. He watches so much film. He is so smart with how he approaches defensive schemes and offensive schemes. 

“How much can these young kids retain? That may be an interesting challenge as well, because in some ways, they’re not professional. They don’t have as much time as we had as professional athletes to go in there and study film and practice and meet and all that. They don’t have that amount of time at the college level.” 

[Read more from “Big Noon Conversations”: Marcus Freeman, Tony Petitti, Best of 2024 season]

There have been several legendary stories over the years of how Belichick’s tactics proved to be the difference in wins, dating back to his days as a defensive coordinator with the New York Giants. In his final game in that role, he devised a plan to slow down the Buffalo Bills’ high-octane offense, which worked so well that it not only helped the Giants win Super Bowl XXV, but also placed Belichick’s game plan into the Pro Football Hall of Fame. 

Tom Brady and Bill Belichick won six Super Bowls in their 20 seasons together with the Patriots. (Photo by Adam Glanzman/Getty Images)

But Belichick won’t have a Lawrence Taylor on his roster at UNC. In fact, he’s taking over a team that went 6-7 in 2024, leading the school to fire Mack Brown.

Still, there is some optimism surrounding UNC entering 2025 beyond Belichick’s track record. Brown claimed earlier in the offseason that the school has invested more into the football program with Belichick in charge, which helped UNC land the ninth-best transfer portal class (via 247 Sports). 

North Carolina’s win total is set at 7.5 wins, while it holds the ninth-best odds to win the ACC, via DraftKings Sportsbook. But if the Tar Heels make a CFP run, it wouldn’t be the first time that Belichick has led an upstart team to a surprise run. 

That’s just part of the reason why Brady sees UNC’s hire of Belichick as a win for the program.

“It’s a great benefit for all those players going to that program, because they’re getting the best coach that the NFL has ever seen, and now he’s at a college level,” Brady said during an NFL on FOX broadcast shortly after Belichick was hired in December.

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