Tom Brady, Rodney Harrison, and others react to Bill Belichick joining UNC
The Tar Heel way is about to become a thing.”
Bill Belichick is returning to the sidelines in 2025.
But the legendary head coach made the switch to the collegiate ranks after nearly 50 years in the NFL, with Belichick signing a five-year deal on Wednesday to become the next head coach at the University of North Carolina.
It’s a surprising career choice for Belichick, given that this is his first college football gig.
While many expected the eight-time Super Bowl champion to dive into another NFL coaching carousel next month, Belichick opted for a new challenge — and likely more control of a football program — at Chapel Hill.
As expected, several of Belichick’s former players have already reacted to his decision to coach college football.
Here are some of the top responses so far.
Tom Brady
It didn’t take very long for Belichick’s longtime quarterback and fellow architect of the Patriots’ dynasty to congratulate him on social media.
“Congrats Coach,” Brady wrote on his Instagram story over a picture announcing Belichick’s signing with UNC. “The Tar Heel way is about to become a thing.”
It does stand as an about-face from Brady’s previous sentiment about Belichick potentially coaching college football.
“There’s a lot of things he can do, and obviously he’s tremendous, and even showing his personality,” Brady said of Belichick on FOX Sunday. “But getting out there on the recruiting trail and dealing with all these college kids.”
“Could you imagine Bill on a couch, recruiting,” Julain Edelman asked.
“Listen, you really wanna come here,” Brady said while impersonating Belichick. “I mean we don’t really want ya anyway, but I guess you could come. We’ll figure out if you’ll play.”
Rodney Harrison
The hard-hitting ex-Patriots safety vented his frustrations about how Belichick didn’t receive serious consideration for another NFL head-coaching gig before signing with UNC.
“I can’t believe that a guy with his reputation, and the things he can do coaching-wise, people (in the NFL) should be jumping at the opportunity to give him a job,” Harrison told MassLive’s Karen Karen Guregian on Wednesday.
According to ESPN’s Jeremy Fowler, the sentiment from the NFL owners meeting was that Belichick “simply hadn’t garnered much NFL interest if at all this cycle.”
There were eight NFL head-coaching vacancies last offseason, but only the Atlanta Falcons opted to interview him before ultimately hiring Raheem Morris.
“He’s ultimately a coach, and that’s what he wants to do,” Harrison added. “If he can impact some of these kids’ lives given the opportunity, hey, why not?”
Drake Maye
Before Belichick’s hiring became official, current Patriots QB — and former Tar Heel — Drake Maye offered up an endorsement of Belichick taking over his alma mater.
“Obviously, legendary coach [with] the success he had here,” Maye said at Gillette Stadium Wednesday morning. “And what a great place Chapel Hill is. Any time you have a legendary NFL coach going back to college, I think it’s cool. It’s pretty interesting for me.
“I think Coach Belichick would love Chapel Hill. Chapel Hill is a great spot … A cool thing for a Hall of Fame coach to go back and coach in college.”
For Maye, the most exciting part of Belichick taking over the Tar Heels will be his impact on the team’s defense.
“Coach Belichick, defensive mind, he’ll get that defense rolling,” Maye said. “It’s a fun spot. I think it’s a great spot, a great coaching job. I can’t blame him. It’s an awesome place.”
Brian Hoyer
Speaking on NBC Sports Boston’s “The Gameplan” on Wednesday, former Patriots QB Brian Hoyer admitted that he was shocked to see Belichick turn down another chance to coach in the NFL.
“I think everybody who’s played for Bill, we all have the same reaction,” Hoyer said. “We’ve seen Tom (Brady) talk about it. We’ve seen (Jonathan) Jones has talked about it like, ‘Oh, you want more NIL money? Well, why don’t you worry about your history class.’ Because that’s the way he talked to us. I think he’s gonna have to have some adaptation here.
“Now, I do say, being in this NIL era, he will be able to run it like a pro team because you don’t really don’t have to recruit. You just go in and say, ‘Hey, I’m Bill Belichick. You can come play for me. We’re gonna give you X amount of money. Here’s the deal.’ If this is pre-NIL era, I think this would be a little different. Him having to walk into someone’s home and recruit Johnny and say, ‘Hey, we really want you’ and all of those things. But this was not on my bingo card for this year, that’s for sure.”
For Hoyer, the most surprising element of Belichick’s decision is that it seemingly snuffs out any chance of his former head coach reaching the all-time wins record in NFL history. Belichick is currently 15 wins behind Don Shula for the most coaching wins in NFL history.
“The biggest thing for me is this doesn’t allow him to get close to that NFL win record,” Hoyer said. “I think that’s the biggest shock, especially not waiting for the NFL cycle to kind of come and go, see if there was an opportunity. But clearly he felt comfortable and wants to do this, and maybe that year in the media, that’s what changed his mind and that’s what he wants to do.
“So I think he’ll do a great job, and I think the one thing like we said, the NIL, you don’t even have to recruit high school kids. You can go pick them from other schools too. So how many kids in the transfer portal now sitting out there are gonna say, ‘Oh, I get a chance to go play for Bill Belichick. Let me see what they’re gonna offer me money-wise, but also the greatest head coach of all time, I can go play for him and that’ll really boost my stock when I had in the NFL.”
Lawrence Taylor
Belichick’s affinity for Taylor — who he coached to two Super Bowl titles with the Giants — has been well-documented at this point.
Taylor, who starred at North Carolina before beginning his Hall-of-Fame career with the Giants, offered up plenty of praise of Belichick and his new role.
“UNC stock has just gone up!!!” Taylor texted longtime NFL reporter Gary Myers.
Kendrick Bourne & Jonathan Jones
Current Patriots wide receiver Kendrick Bourne believes that Belichick’s resume will allow him to succeed in a new role with the Tar Heels.
“I think he’s going to do good,” Bourne said ahead of Wednesday’s practice in Foxborough. “I think Bill does a good job of developing players, developing young men. I think it’ll be a challenge for the young men; he’s a tough coach, which we all know. But I think it’ll be good for certain players who have the right mindset.”
Belichick’s exacting nature and stern disposition might take some time to adjust to for collegiate players. But Bourne offered up some words of advice for the Tar Heels roster in 2025 and beyond.
“Just stay tough,” he said. “Have a gritty mindset, because it’s not going to be easy. But in the end, it’ll be worth it. School and NIL will be a different world [for him]. But I think he’s going to manage it good. I think Bill is a special person. He has that strong mindset. He knows how to plant things. I think it’ll be good. Just don’t miss class.”
Current Patriots cornerback Jonathan Jones had a funny observation about what it’d be like working on a NIL deal with Belichick.
“Oh, man. I wouldn’t want to know,” Jones said on Monday. “He’s the type, he would pull up your transcript, what classes you’re failing. Like, ‘You want more money? What about your history grades?’”
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