Less than a week into his new role as North Carolina’s head coach, Bill Belichick is already making strides.
The 72-year-old signed a five-year contract last Wednesday to become the next UNC head coach and the Belichick era is already underway in Chapel Hill.
Belichick secured his first Transfer Portal coup on Monday when former Holy Cross offensive lineman Christo Kelly committed to UNC, the player announced.
Kelly, a redshirt senior, had been with Holy Cross since 2020. According to him, he made the All-Patriot League Third Team in 2023 as a standout offensive lineman. Sports illustrated.
Kelly marks the first transfer under the former New England Patriots head coach and will likely bring experience to Belichick’s Tar Heels.
Belichick had teased an influx of transfer activity earlier on Monday when he made his weekly guest appearance on The Pat McAfee Show.
Bill Belichick signed a five-year contract last Wednesday to become the next UNC head coach
Belichick secured his first Transfer Portal coup on Monday when former Holy Cross offensive lineman Christo Kelly (second from left) committed to UNC
“We’ve talked to a number of players and we have more coming in this week as part of the portal, which closes on Sunday, so we’ve got guys coming in pretty much every day this week,” Belichick said on the club’s website. ESPN program.
“We’re selling the program, but honestly, we’ve had a lot of players and agents come to us and say, ‘We want to be part of the program.’
Despite criticism and skepticism about Belichick’s foray into collegiate football, the former NFL coach appears to be embracing the process.
“It’s fun and great to be in North Carolina, and great to be at this great university and back in the game. We are spending money, not as much as we spent in the NFL,” Belichick continued.
“It’s a new landscape in college football, but honestly not that different. It’s different, but this part of the process isn’t that different from what we’ve dealt with in the NFL.”
Belichick has been out of work since ending his storied 24-year reign as head coach of the New England Patriots at the start of the year and having failed to land a top gig elsewhere in the NFL.
He finally landed in Chapel Hill last week after shocking reports of multiple interviews with the New York school earlier this month.
Belichick and the university agreed to a five-year deal worth $50 million, making him one of the highest-paid college coaches on an annual basis. His salary is also a huge jump from the $5 million salary UNC paid Mack Brown in his final season in charge of the program.
It marks his first-ever college coaching job after nearly a half-century in the NFL, where he won six Super Bowls as head coach for the Patriots.