The era of Chapelville began.
Bill Belichick held his first official press conference as head coach of the North Carolina State football team on Thursday.
Belichick was presented with a short-sleeve hoodie by Director of Athletics Bubba Cunningham and Premier Lee Roberts.
“I cannot express my gratitude to both of them and the board for giving me this wonderful opportunity,” said Belichick, seated between Roberts and Cunningham. “I always wanted to coach in college football and it just never worked out. I had a few good years in the NFL so that was fine, but this was truly a dream come true. I grew up playing college football with my dad, who has been involved in college football for 50 years. College football was all I knew. It's great to be back in Carolina, where I grew up. is.”
Belichick said that when he was a kid, his first words were “beat Duke.”
It was a relative shock when rumors first broke last week that Belichick and UNC had held initial talks about the job, but as of last weekend, the idea of the two companies working together still seemed a long way off. I could feel it.
Belichick's father, Steve, was an assistant on the UNC staff from 1935 to 1955, when Bill was a toddler, so this film marks a return to his hometown after nearly 70 years. The older Belichick later served as an assistant in the Navy from 1956 to 1989.
Belichick has already said he plans to run a professional-style program at UNC.
“If I'm in a college program, that college program is going to be a pipeline to the NFL for players who have the ability to play in the NFL,” Belichick said earlier this week, officially taking the position. told Pat McAfee before. “It's going to be a specialized program of training, nutrition, planning, coaching and technique to transition to the NFL…It's going to be an NFL program, but not at the NFL level.”
Belichick is expected to bring a number of familiar faces to Chapel Hill, a process that has already begun with the news of Michael Lombardi's passing. He left his role as host at VSIN to become GM of the football program.
Lombardi previously worked with Belichick on the Browns and Patriots.
Belichick said in a press conference that Lombardi will work with him on scouting high school and college players and on the often-talked-about salary cap.
Belichick said former Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens will also join the staff.
Belichick won six Super Bowls as head coach of the Patriots and two more as defensive coordinator on Bill Parcells' staff with the Giants.
The news that Belichick will be joining North Carolina is a huge windfall for ESPN, which broadcasts the majority of ACC games and now broadcasts a number of unexpectedly interesting TV events involving the Tar Heels.
