This has struck me as viable since I first heard the rumor. Older persons can make radical career changes late in life from what their lifetime success has been built upon. This is particularly true where it involve the opportunity to influence young people or some other more noble cause. For Bill, it’s likely now about being happy and less about hardware.
You see this in business, art, music, and everywhere else... why not in football? Our society - particularly sports - is just too focused on money and ego as the ultimate end games when it is not for many people who see the opportunity to make a real difference with others as fun and fulfilling.
Second, the NFL is not fun anymore. Look at the lifespan of head coaches, injuries, holdouts every year before camp, GMs trying to wield power and take credit for success while blaming the coach for every failure, mercurial owners, and the rise of podcast and social media distractions. My goodness, just look at Kyle Shanahan's physical appearance lately. NFL head coaching is no cushy gig.
There's also too much focus on the portal as an obstacle. The person who disrupted this thinking if anyone cared to pay attention was Deion Sanders. Remember how many people questioned Deion when he went to the losing Colorado program? Remember the hysterics over his portal exit numbers upon arrival?
He immediately demonstrated that you can recruit and win quickly on personality, brand, and NIL regardless of how many athletes leave through the portal. In fact, he has succeeded in part because he has encouraged exits through the portal and viewed those transfers as a net positive for his program. How is Carolina not a better jump?
Belichick, like Sanders, will be able to recruit on his name provided the NIL money is reasonably sufficient. Parents know what he stands for as a coach, and his recent media gigs have made him only more desirable as a coach and landing spot for recruits. He is a terrific teacher with deep NFL connections if your kid aspires to be at the next level. The ACC, like the AFC East for so many years, is not overly competitive. That should enable him to make a splash quickly.
I like this move a lot, both for him and UNC.
