When Bill Belichick signed a $50 million deal with UNC, everyone knew he was going to shake things up, especially given his track record as an eight-time Super Bowl winner. He even brought along a massive 400-page vision document detailing what he planned to do with the Tar Heels. As part of this change, the coaching staff got a complete makeover, with only Freddie Kitchens sticking around as the offensive coordinator. What surprised a lot of people, though, was seeing some familiar faces on his team instead of the fresh blood they were expecting.

Michael Lombardi joined UNC as the General Manager after spending three seasons as an assistant to the coaching staff with the Patriots. Jamie Collins, a former All-Pro linebacker and Super Bowl champ from 2014, stepped in as the linebackers coach. Mike Priefer took the role of special teams coordinator, bringing 17 years of NFL experience to the team. Then there are Belichick’s sons, Steve and Brian, who are coming on board as the defensive coordinator and defensive backs/safeties coach, respectively. This set off a few questions about the new hires.

Even before the hires were announced, a report emerged that Belichick had requested UNC to designate Steve Belichick as the “head coach in waiting,” which the program denied. So, Steve becoming DC was widely said to be a compromise that Belichick had to endure. As for Brian, his lack of college football experience was cited, and people pointed to other good coaches in the CFB world. But amidst all this noise, the two coaches were working silently, and now the impact seemed quite optimistic.

“They both sort of lean their own way, but they give you freedom. I think that’s the best thing. They want the best players to play, and they’ll fit the scheme around the players. So they’re not going to try to put people where they shouldn’t be. They’ve been around the game a long time to know that when you put the best players out there and you cater to them, you’ll have the most success,” said Will Hardy, the fourth-year safety for UNC, about Steve and Brian. Mind you, this is just the tip of the iceberg; there’s more!

Before arriving at UNC, Steve Belichick was the defensive coordinator at Washington. He really turned things around for the Huskies, boosting their total defense ranking from 99th to 28th in the nation! On top of that, he kept passing yards to just 166.5 per game, which was the second-best in the country. Washington also limited teams to only 23.8 points per game last season. His impressive track record inspired a ton of players to pack their bags and follow him to UNC!

Thaddeus Dixon was one of the three defenders to come to UNC from the Huskies. The other two being Peyton Waters (safety) and Khmori House (LB). Thaddeus highlighted his admiration for Steve’s schemes for choosing UNC out of the portal. “Mainly just how comfortable I am with him and playing in his defense. Coach Steve runs a really good defense, and it really puts his players in the best position to make plays. So, just being in a defense, I already had success. I mean, honestly, it was an easy move,” Dixon told 247Sports. When asked about what he liked the most in Steve Belichick’s schemes, he said, “physicality.”

Steve Belichick is 38 and has plenty of coaching experience under his belt. Before joining the Huskies, he was with the Patriots for 12 years, even serving as their defensive coordinator from 2019 to 2023. His brother, Brian, also spent nine years with the Patriots, starting out as a scouting assistant before moving up to safeties coach for three years. The players are really responding to them, so it looks promising for the team’s performance. All in all, Bill Belichick’s $1.8 million contract for his sons—$1.3 million for Steve and $500,000 for Brian—seems like a solid investment, and we should see some good results soon!

A major myth about Bill Belichick’s past debunked

Bill Belichick, in his storied history in the NFL, has made a name for himself as a gritty and grumbly head coach who always has a tough time with the media. Take, for example, that infamous interview where Bill Belichick had just one answer to every question after his team’s loss: “We’re moving to Cincinnati.” The head coach even dictated what information would go out of the team and what would not, and if one failed to do that. They had to face the consequences. But is Belichick really like this at the Tar Heels?

Tar Heels wideout Jordan Shipp broke the popular narrative and described the head coach as funny. “You know, it catches you off guard. You don’t really expect it. Even if it’s in the meetings, we’ll kind of laugh about play. There was a play where I tripped during the spring, and I tripped right in front of him. And he was just kind of like you know, tripped on air, tripped on nothing, a lot of the boys laughing,” said Shipp.

Time and again, we’re seeing new sides of the legendary head coach that we’ve never seen before. This might be his latest vibe—doing yoga on the beach, flaunting his eight Super Bowl rings, and laughing off Snoop Dogg’s joke about the age difference with his girlfriend. The old NFL Bill Belichick definitely wouldn’t have reacted like this, right? Or is he just putting on a show?