Bill Belichick talks up Tar Heels: ''Everybody wants to go to Carolina'

Bill Belichick is talking the talk as the new head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels.

Whether or not he'll be able to walk the walk at the college level remains to be seen, but Belichick is speaking like a coach who is confident in the strength of his six Super Bowl rings.

That plus the North Carolina brand which is well-renowned in basketball but could use a bit of work in football is enough to get top talent through the door, if you were to believe Belichick.

Speaking recently on the "Carolina Insider" podcast, Belichick spoke boldly about North Carolina.

We want to be a national school, and we are a national school.

It is a national brand, and everybody wants to go to Carolina, Belichick said ( h/t On3 ).

We know its very difficult to get acceptance into the school as an out-of-state student, but ...

weve had tremendous interest from student athletes nationally that have great interest in the program.

And so were, you know, were everywhere.

Were gonna recruit North Carolina hard, thats the most important state, but we also want to have a national presence for student athletes that want to come here.

One of the biggest question marks heading into Belichick's first season at UNC is how he'll handle the recruiting trail and transfer portal.

College players can essentially leave a program whenever they want now, which is much different from the way things are done in the NFL, where the organizations largely had control thanks to the contracts.

In college, players are recruited by a school and have a choice of where they go.

In the NFL, prospects are drafted, so it's a completely different process.

Belichick believes undrafted free agency gave him a bit of experience in that department, though.

Well, its a little different than what I did with draft prospects, because there is a drafting element, but we also recruited a lot of players who werent drafted," Belichick explained.

Belichick mentioned David Andrews, who was an undrafted free agent who Belichick found, and he became the starting center for the New England Patriots for nearly 10 years.

UNC's new head coach may have to find some diamonds in the rough to get the Tar Heels over the hump nationally, but the good news is he's always seemed to be able to get the most out of players many did not see potential in.

Can that translate from the NFL to college football and how quickly will it take Belichick to adjust? That's the other big question heading into 2025.

Andrew Kulha is probably the only sports writer you know who also doubles as a mortician.

Spooky! @KulhaSports.

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