New North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick likes getting to put his hands in everything again amid his team’s first two spring practices.
The former longtime New England Patriots head coach and eight-time Super Bowl winner is embracing the transition back to college football. Belichick, 72, took the job in December 2024 after a year away from coaching.
“I can go to any group I want and coach them. And honestly, that’s the fun part,” he added.
“We haven’t accomplished anything, but we’re a lot further along than we were five weeks ago,” Belichick said. “We’re getting there.”
That said, Belichick wants to create buy-in and build a strong program. Belichick has already been able to put his stamp on the program with recruiting, the transfer portal, and his staff hires.
“I don’t really have any expectations,” Belichick said. “It’s going to be up to each individual.”
“I know we’ve got a good plan, I know we can do the right things to put a good product on the field,” he added. “Everybody that buys into it and wants to be a part of it, will be a part of it. And if they don’t, they can go somewhere else. That’s their decision.”
In the meantime, Belichick wants to take advantage of something that spring practice offers that NFL organized team activities didn’t—pads. Belichick can build a more physical team earlier than he has in the past, and many of his Patriots teams were known for defense.
“Contact is very limited in the NFL in the spring. There really isn’t any,” Belichick said.
However, he did create one similarity between spring practice and NFL minicamps. He’s focused on assessing and developing the new players.
“It’s kind of similar to what a rookie minicamp would be and time with the rookies,” Belichick said. “We’re starting to put everything together—here’s how we do things, here’s what our expectations are, this is what you need to do to be successful.”
“They’ve embraced that and tried to do it,” he added.
Belichick also expressed an ease in working with younger athletes though that’s not entirely new since he worked with NFL rookies coming out of college.
“The response has been great,” Belichick said. “Granted, those kids are a little bit older, but they’re coming from all different programs and different situations.”
Belichick also addressed the Tar Heels’ quarterback situation but didn’t offer too much on who will start in the fall or if another quarterback could show up in the spring transfer portal. UNC has Max Johnson, who started the team’s first game in 2024, before he broke his leg against Minnesota.
“Right now we’re focused on players that are here, and then whatever happens with the players coming in and portal players, we'll deal with all that later,” Belichick said.
“Max has worked hard. Max makes a lot of progress. He’s still limited, but he’s definitely getting better. And he’s taking it day by day. Nobody’s put in more work than he has,” Belichick added. “We'll see where that takes him, but he’s definitely making progress.”
“And if he has a good day, do a little bit more the day after that. And say it doesn’t move on quite as quickly, then we'll slow it down until we can progress,” Belichick said.
