Controversy has shadowed Bill Belichick throughout his career. His head coaching chapter at the New England Patriots was marred by the Spygate controversy. There were well-documented tensions between Belichick and Tom Brady towards the end of their time together. So, it was no wonder that by closing his NFL chapter, what would come next would be enough news to make it to the headlines. When Belichick swapped to college football with North Carolina, he started catching side eyes.

As Paul Finebaum stated, “I was a big proponent when he got the job. I thought he would completely change that culture. We’re early in. My take early on is he’s completely and totally clueless when it comes to college football.” Anyhow, Belichick stepped on hot coals as the Tar Heels fired their former head coach, Mack Brown. The decision came after UNC dropped four consecutive games from Sept. 21 through Oct. 12, including one to James Madison. While the college football world might be doubtful about the longevity of Belichick’s head coaching chair in North Carolina, the head coach himself cleared the air of confusion looming around him.

On the June 26th episode of the Bloomberg Originals podcast, one could sense the optimism and enthusiasm in Belichick’s voice. “I’ve always wanted to be in college football. I grew up in it at the Naval Academy, and I tried to go into college football after college, but that didn’t really work out. So I ended up with the Baltimore Colts and Coach [Ted] Marchibroda there. And then that path kind of led me through the NFL. And that’s worked out all right. But it was an opportunity to go to a great school, a great institution with, with a great brand. That, you know, hasn’t achieved what they wanna achieve on the football field. And so there’s a lot of newness, a lot of learning.” Before the ex-Patriots’ head coach, it was Arthur Smith, the Pittsburgh Steelers OC’s name, who was doing the rounds.

But Belichick ultimately grabbed the role, who spent his entire career in the NFL and is second only to Don Shula (328) with 302 regular-season wins. Yet his heart still craved college football exposure. Maybe a lot has to do with his growing years. Belichick, while growing up, has seen his dad, Steve, serving as an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953 to 1955.

During his introductory comments, UNC chancellor Lee Roberts pulled out a copy of the 1954 North Carolina media guide. It had an excerpt about Belichick’s father, which ended with a line about his 2-year-old son, William Stephen, aka Bill. “Coach, welcome back to Carolina,” Roberts said. Now that he has his dream job, Belichick is enjoying the ride. 

“That’s been exciting for me, and I have embraced it. I don’t know, sometimes I feel like on the golf course, I’m more comfortable in the trap than I am in the middle of the fairway, ’cause it’s usually gonna go in the trap.” Now, after this confirmation from the head coach himself, will analyst Pablo Torre stop cooking up suspense? 

Analyst does not see Bill Belichick sticking around for long in North Carolina 

While Belichick’s first season was supposed to be a smooth ride, his personal life had some different plans. As he is dating 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, the newly-brewed romance has often tarnished Belichick’s reputation. With Hudson interfering in Belichick’s professional space, with her name CCed on every work email the UNC head coach receives, the Tar Heels started to notice many red flags about Belichick’s future in North Carolina. 

That’s when Torre came up with a fresh serving of suspense. Leaving the Tar Heels fans on the edge, he shared on the Dan Patrick Show, “It’s funny. I don’t have anything to break with you exclusively, other than to say that I got some stuff cooking. As much as people think that I’ve become a real journalist because of this NFLPA story, nope, I’m still in the mud, Dan. I look forward to calling you from the mud hopefully sooner, rather than later.” In the meantime, Belichick might have thought of going back to the NFL, after his buyout dropped from $10 million to $1 million on June 1st.

Drawing reference from how Bill Belichick has started to lose his charm in North Carolina led to a further discussion between Torre and Patrick. “I would set the line number of seasons at North Carolina,” Torre started, when Patrick also chimed in with “One and a half!” Torre followed it up by claiming, “One.” Out of inquisitiveness, Patrick tried to confirm, “So he’s one and done?” Then came Torre’s confident reply, “I would say he’s one and done.” But now that Belichick’s long-awaited dream came true with a college football head coaching seat, will he hit the ‘DONE’ button so soon?