Tom Brady admitted he was ‘blown away’ by Bill Belichick taking UNC coaching role
“They’re getting, obviously, a tremendous coach."
Though few people know Bill Belichick as well as Tom Brady, even the former quarterback had to acknowledge his surprise at the recent news that the ex-Patriots coach is heading into the college game to lead the University of North Carolina’s football program.
Asked about the news during his call of the Steelers-Eagles game on Sunday, Brady admitted he hadn’t considered the college level as a place Belichick would end up.
“Kind of blew me away when I heard the news. I didn’t think that was an opportunity he was looking at,” Brady said during the Fox broadcast. “They’re getting, obviously, a tremendous coach.
“Those guys are going to play very hard,” Brady added of the players who Belichick will coach. “He’s going to coach them well. It’s a great benefit for all those players that are going to that program, because they’re getting the best coach that [the] NFL has ever seen.”
Belichick has decades of coaching experience, but all of it has been in the NFL. He led the Patriots (along with Brady) to six Super Bowl wins, parting ways with New England at the end of last season.
Yet while his coaching capacity is beyond question, Belichick’s ability to build a roster — predicated around recruiting and relating to younger players — has been a talking point since the announcement that he was accepting the role in Chapel Hill.
“The thing is, he’s not the warmest and fuzziest of all-time,” Brady joked of his former boss.
The 47-year-old Brady recalled a story from after the Patriots’ first Super Bowl win in 2002. After celebrating in New Orleans following a historic upset against the Rams — the culmination of a fairytale season for Brady in his first year as the team’s starter — he joked about getting only a minor compliment from his coach.
“You know what, Tom? You had a pretty good season,” Brady said he remembered Belichick telling him.
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