Time and time again, legendary football coaches don’t know when to hang up the whistle.
Very few walk away close to their peak, instead staying in the game far too long and finishing their career on an often sad note.
It’s what makes Nick Saban’s abrupt retirement after the 2023 season a refreshing pivot.
But his counterpart, probably the greatest NFL coach of all time in Bill Belichick, didn’t learn from Saban.
Nothing Belichick does after his legendary tenure with the New England Patriots and his six Super Bowls won as a head coach — more than anyone else — will really tarnish his legacy.
But it’s undoubtedly been tough to watch his North Carolina tenure play out after no other NFL team gave him a chance to remain in the professional ranks.
North Carolina general manager Mike Lombardi — currently on administrative leave after an HR complaint — said when Belichick and he arrived in Chapel Hill that they would make the Tar Heels the “33rd NFL team” with how much they would load up on talent and develop players for professional football.
Lombardi and Belichick should have made sure they could at least field the 33rd-best Power Four team before making NFL comparisons. Because they weren’t within that threshold last season, and it’s not looking like they’ll get into the top 33 in Year 2.
North Carolina paid Belichick $10 million last season to go 4-8, with only two of those wins coming against P4 opponents. It was his second consecutive season winning just four games after the Patriots went 4-13 in his final season in 2023, the worst record of his career.
In an Atlantic Coast Conference which had a pretty low floor, the Tar Heels finished last out of 17 teams in total offense (288.8 yards per game). Quarterback Gio Lopez wasn’t exactly a world-beater at South Alabama in 2024, but he was much better there (2,559 passing yards, 18 touchdowns, 463 rushing yards, seven rushing TDs) than last season for North Carolina (1,747 passing yards, 10 TDs, 133 rushing yards, three scores).
Belichick is now betting on Wisconsin transfer Billy Edwards Jr. to spark the offense.
It’s not a bet I would make considering Edwards has essentially played just one season of college football at Maryland in 2024 and is coming off a season-ending knee injury in his Wisconsin debut last September. But it’s the aisle Belichick has to shop in right now.
The proof of concept wasn’t there in Year 1 to sell and it’s unclear how much money he has left to work with to build a competitive roster at a basketball school after his gaudy salary is factored in.
The ACC media corps isn’t expecting much improvement from the Tar Heels either, picking them 15th in the conference’s preseason poll.
Belichick isn’t getting any younger, turning 74 back in April. North Carolina’s defensive coordinator, his son Steve Belichick, has missed all of preseason camp on medical leave and still hasn’t returned to the team.
The season begins in seven days, by the way, next Saturday in Dublin, Ireland.
All that to say, it’s probably past time for Belichick to pivot from “We’re onto Cincinnati” to “We’re onto retirement.”
