By Bruce Feldman, Brendan Marks, Dianna Russini and Ralph D. Russo

Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has spoken multiple times with North Carolina officials about becoming the school’s head coach, multiple people briefed on the situation said The athlete on Thursday.

How serious the two sides are about continuing talks is unclear, and a decision on who the Tar Heels want to hire to replace Mack Brown does not appear to be imminent, sources said.

Sources spoke on condition of anonymity because North Carolina did not make details of its coaching search public. Inside Carolina first reported Belichick’s interview.

The 72-year-old six-time Super Bowl winner has become interested in college football while spending a lot of time with a major college football program over the past year and is believed to be interested in either college or the NFL is open. His 37-year-old son Steve Belichick, a former Patriots assistant coach, is Washington’s defensive coordinator and works with Huskies head coach Jedd Fisch, another former New England coach under the elder Belichick.

Belichick became involved with the Huskies’ staff and was committed to the program. When his son installed the new defense last spring, Belichick spent extended time with the defensive staff during the seven days he visited.

“He is fully invested in our program,” Fisch said The athlete in July. “When we were in Arizona, I would get emails or calls from Bill and he would give me things he saw in our film. He watched our film every week. He gave me a complete overview of certain things to look at and think about, which was just amazing. Now he has invested a little more and also has grandchildren here, which is more of an advantage. It’s not just his own son. Everyone likes grandchildren better.”

The Patriots parted ways with Belichick in January after 24 seasons and he was no longer coach this year after failing to get another NFL job. Belichick interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons last offseason before they hired Raheem Morris and could reapply for an NFL job. Three teams – the New York Jets, New Orleans Saints and Chicago Bears – have already fired coaches this season.

With 333 total wins, Belichick is 14 points shy of Don Shula’s NFL coaching record of 347 career wins.

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North Carolina fired the 73-year-old Brown just days before the final game of the regular season, which ended in a loss to North Carolina State and left the Tar Heels at 6-6.

a source in Washington said The athlete On Thursday, he said that Belichick has been continually following the program and has taken “a very close and detailed look at what college football looks like right now” around Seattle’s Big Ten program. The source added that Belichick has seen his plan implemented in college and that college players can make it work.

Under Steve Belichick, despite replacing nine of 11 starters on defense last year, the Huskies rank 27th nationally in yards allowed per game, up from 79th last year. They are No. 4 in the country in fewest passing yards allowed per attempt.

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(Photo: Steph Chambers/Getty Images)