Ex-UNC HC Comes Clean on Bill Belichick’s $13M Luxury at Program; Which He Never Had

The story hanging over Bill Belichick’s debut as a college football head coach is nothing short of an experiment in real time. And who better to weigh in than the man who once stood in the same shoes — former North Carolina coach Mack Brown. After being dismissed in his sixth season of a second stint in Chapel Hill, despite a 44–32 record, Brown now watches as Belichick inherits a program armed with resources he never had. With $13 million fueling UNC’s new commitment to football, Brown admits with a tinge of regret that his successor steps into a program stronger, richer, and more prepared than ever before.

As Pat Forde shared his opinion, “That was the most interesting coaching move I’ve maybe ever seen. Yeah. Maybe even more than Colorado hiring Deion Sanders. I mean, Bill Belichick has won six Super Bowls. You’re bringing that into college. It’s amazing.” While there is already a lot of buzz about Belichick copying Deion Sanders’ modus operandi, what did Brown say about Belichick?

On September 1, FanDuel Sports Network tweeted a clip from Brown’s interview. Belichick’s predecessor said, “There are 70-plus new players that will play at North Carolina tonight than I had when I left in December, so you can actually buy you a new team, so you can get better fast. It’s not the old; it takes only three years to get better.” No brownie points for guessing where he pointed his fingers at. Belichick is fortunate to get the NIL privilege. 

North Carolina has reportedly boosted its NIL package from $4 million to $20 million upon Belichick’s arrival. Their Director of Athletics, Bubba Cunningham, shared that the majority of the revenue sharing percentages are split with 65% for football and 35% for men’s basketball. That is approximately $13 million. Earlier in an interview, Brown shared about the challenges he faced in his coaching tenure. 

He admitted to chasing recruits with empty pockets. At one point, he even advised a player to take a $1 million offer elsewhere, knowing UNC couldn’t come anywhere near competing with that kind of deal. In that interview, Belichick’s predecessor said, “North Carolina didn’t have NIL money [for me]. I said we were kind of a slow bleed. We weren’t able to recruit the top kids like we were when we first got there.” 

With college sports realignment and revenue-sharing, UNC is putting real money into football. Belichick, unlike Brown, won’t have to fight for resources. With all the factors aligning in Belichick’s favor, the former head coach said, “So they’ve got a great staff. They’ve got money to recruit. They’ve got not only the revenue share, but money above that. They’ll have a tremendous atmosphere tonight. So I really think that Bill will do a tremendous job there.” But is it actually going to be a smooth ride for the new head coach?

Harsh reality check for Bill Belichick

First things first, his new run in college football would require a lot of patience for Belichick. After all, he will now be making the switch from coaching mature players like GOAT Tom Brady to a linebacker missing a deep ball. That’s what Josh Pate, too, highlighted in his analysis.

“I just think one of the laziest takes out there has been ‘Belichick will succeed at North Carolina.’ And the reason is [that] college football is just like the NFL. Now, college football is not just like the NFL. Like, at what point the mechanism of the fact that we pay players? Well, that’s broad strokes. That’s like saying my little niece in preschool art class and Van Gogh were both artists. Cause they painted. I could say that. It’s ignorant,” shared Pate.

Coaching in the NFL is not the same as coaching in college football, regardless of how many Super Bowls you’ve won. While Belichick’s seat is already hot as he tries something new at the age of 73, he invites more trouble. Well, Belichick has gone full throttle when it came to recruiting, ticking off all the reserves, high school, transfer portal, giving away Deion Sanders vibes.

As Colin Cowherd pointed out, “It’s like Deion in his first year. It’s like there are programs that are forced to go the portal route. You might be right that okay, recruit and develop. Is that how you get to the top of the sport? Yes. But that’s not how you turn it around quickly.” Good things take time. Even if Belichick proves his toughness in recruiting wars, growth and development in college football remain a marathon, not a sprint. Is a rookie’s magic in the cards for Belichick, or will his debut end in a stumble?