Steve Belichick admits he never predicted seeing his father, Bill, coaching college football

The biggest shock of the college football offseason had to be the hiring of Bill Belichick at North Carolina. Belichick, who is widely regarded as the greatest NFL head coach of all time, accepted the Carolina job on Dec. 11, 2024 and entered the collegiate football ranks for the first time in his storied career.

Belichick coached 28 total seasons in the NFL, but his greatest run came with the New England Patriots from 2000-2023. He spent 23 seasons in New England, where he led the Patriots to a 302-165 record and six Lombardi Trophies. Accompanied by quarterback Tom Brady, Belichick was in charge of one of the greatest sports dynasties in modern history.

He’ll now undergo a new challenge this season in Chapel Hill, as he takes over a North Carolina program which went 6-7 last season. Tar Heel defensive coordinator Stephen Belichick, Bill’s son, discussed how shocked he was that his father took the job earlier this week.

“No, I didn’t see it coming,” Belichick said. “I take all the credit for him being in college. That’s on me. I just think that, for my dad, he loves coaching football. That’s his passion and so this opportunity presented itself and I was as surprised as everybody else to hear that he was going to North Carolina. I was just like ‘okay.’ But no, it was definitely a little interesting when it happened, but he loves to coach football and develop players and be around the game. It’s been that way my whole life and it hasn’t changed yet.”

Bill had most recently interviewed for the Atlanta Falcons head coaching job in January 2024, but they instead hired then Los Angeles Rams defensive coordinator Raheem Morris. Just 11 months later, Belichick would be trading in his Patriots gear for North Carolina gear.

Stephen Belichick began his coaching career with the Patriots under his father in 2012. His career began as a defensive assistant, but he soon rose through the ranks as their safeties coach, defensive backs coach, and outside linebackers coach before he accepted the Washington defensive coordinator job in 2024. Now, he returns to coaching under his father as North Carolina‘s defensive coordinator this season.

North Carolina will open the 2025 season against TCU at home on Sept. 1. The opening game of the Bill Belichick era, which will bring in the ESPN crew for a live College Football Countdown Show the night prior, is slated for a 7:00 kickoff on ESPN.