Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick has spent much of the ongoing NFL season in the media spotlight.
Belichick met with the Atlanta Falcons in January, but the team chose not to extend an offer to coach. Belichick didn't seem to get much attention from other NFL teams, but he is relatively familiar with football, having regularly appeared on ESPN's Manningcast and The CW's Inside the NFL. I'm here.
But the six-time Super Bowl champion still seems interested in coaching.
During an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” earlier this week, Belichick confirmed that he had discussed the head coaching vacancy with the North Carolina Tarheels.
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Tampa Bay Buccaneers head coach Bruce Arians before a game against the Chicago Bears at Raymond James Stadium on October 24, 2021 in Tampa, Florida. (Kim Clement/USA Today Sports)
It remains unclear whether Belichick will be on the sideline in Chapel Hill next season, but another former NFL coach weighed in on how the situation is developing.
Bruce Arians, who led the Tampa Bay Buccaneers to victory in the 2021 Super Bowl, admitted he was “very surprised” that his contemporaries were interested in coaching at the college level. Arians also offered Belichick some advice.
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“I'm very, very surprised. I was sure he would wait until the NFL recruiting process was complete,” Arians said during a recent appearance on the “Scoop City” podcast. “Sometimes it's good to go back to college, but the freshmen didn't have the patience. The freshmen definitely don't have the patience.”
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick blows the whistle during practice on September 18, 2019 in Foxborough, Massachusetts. (AP Photo/Steven Senne, File)
Arians and Belichick are both 72 years old. Arians will step away from coaching and move into a consultant role with the Bucks in 2022.
“If I had to give Bill a piece of advice, it would be to have a lot of patience,” Arians said. “You're dealing with new guys making money, and now you have freshmen making money? It must be stupid to coach people like that.”
New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick gives instructions from the sideline during the second half of a game against the Los Angeles Chargers on October 31, 2021 in Inglewood, California. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong)
Arians' coaching career began at the collegiate level. He worked for programs like Mississippi State and Alabama.
If Belichick were to attend UNC or another college program, he would have to carefully navigate the name, image, and likeness (NIL) and transfer portals. The NCAA transfer portal opened earlier this week. The NIL and Portal have dramatically changed the landscape of college football over the past few years.
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Belichick shared some details about what the college program would look like if he were the head coach.
“If I was in a college program, a college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for players who are capable of playing in the NFL,” he said. “It will be a specialized program to transfer training, nutrition, planning, coaching and techniques to the NFL.”
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