The appointment of Bill Belichick as coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels is the most impressive college football hire I can imagine. Always. It comes without precedent and without regard to the countless ways in which it could backfire.

That’s because the upside is so great that Carolina can’t resist. Nor should it.

The chance to hire arguably the best coach in football history doesn’t exist in basketball-centric North Carolina. But a confluence of events has led to a tumultuous romance and an unlikely marriage. Get ready for Chapel Bill, The Hoodie’s Heels – a professional icon in a college town.

How the hell did we get here?

It took a rejection of Belichick by the NFL, which didn’t hire him last winter and might have been willing to do it again this winter. For the 72-year-old, it took a ticking internal clock accompanied by the fear that he might never get a last chance at the NFL. It took a very slow season in the college coaching carousel, with only four Power 4 conference jobs open at the time, to increase the attractiveness of the UNC job. And it needed an evolving NCAA rules landscape in which the line between professional and college becomes increasingly blurred.

Now the man who led the greatest dynasty in NFL history will look to instantly reshape a program historically rooted in the middle tier of power conferences. A man with nearly 50 years of NFL experience and none in college is going back to school. A man who is used to coaching adults will try it with teenagers and early twenties.

The right place, the right time… the right fit? We’ll see. But I like their chances.

The only thing that comes close to becoming a college coach for the six-time Super Bowl winner and former New England Patriots head coach is Bill Walsh’s takeover of the Stanford Cardinal in 1992. But even that was different – Walsh was already in college -Coach has been a coach and hasn’t been a coach for three years after winning three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers. Walsh went 10-3 in his first year at Stanford, then left after two losing seasons.

In more modern times, Deion Sanders’ move to the Colorado Buffaloes last year was similarly jarring. But even that lacks impact and uniqueness. Sanders had some familiarity with the area – he had already been a college head coach and had led the Jackson State Tigers at the FCS level for two seasons. And he is 15 years younger.

Belichick’s first-hand observations of college football largely come from this season, when he spent time with the Washington Huskies and watched his son Stephen serve as defensive coordinator for one of his former employees, Jedd Fisch. Belichick was able to see up close how the program’s operations have changed: expanded staffing with greater specialization between recruiting staff and position coaches; a zero climate and salary pools akin to professional free agency, complete with general managers dedicated to roster construction; and the ability to quickly build and disband squads via unlimited free transfers.

These were all elements that helped attract Belichick to the college game. And it’s likely that his legendary NFL status will help him more in recruiting than his age will hurt him.

The best recruiting tool Belichick had at his disposal was displayed on a shelf behind him during his interview Monday The Pat McAfee Show: three of his six Lombardi Trophies. He is considered the third winningest coach in NFL history and is a walking oracle of professional football wisdom. Given the motivation of top high school and college talent to become NFL players, developing Belichick and learning NFL programs should be the most compelling pitch of all.

“Capital letters IF, IF I was in a college program, that would be a pipeline to the NFL,” Belichick said on the McAfee show. “It would be a college-level NFL program and an education that would prepare them for life after football. (Players) would be ready for (the NFL). It would be an NFL program, but not at the NFL level.”

The Tar Heels haven’t been a legitimate national football presence very often in their history. Their last top 10 finish was in 1997, and they have only had four of them since the ’40s. But the expanded 12-team playoffs and the ability to reshape a roster overnight mean opportunities are everywhere. Why not Chapel Hill?

In exchange for relatively brief success under Belichick in the kind of football glory that has always eluded North Carolina, the university appears to have gone to war with itself. Board of Trustees Chairman John Preyer, a frequent public critic of athletic director Bubba Cunningham, and other supporters took the lead in initial discussions with Belichick while Cunningham pursued other candidates — resulting in nearly two separate searches.

In fact, landing Belichick wouldn’t be easy. As time went on, it looked like Kentucky’s ultimately unsuccessful move against Bill Parcells in 2003. And firing 73-year-old Mack Brown to hire a 72-year-old certainly wasn’t Cunningham’s original plan.

“There are a lot of chefs in the kitchen,” a source said Sports Illustrated on Sunday. “North Carolina is making Auburn look reasonable right now.”

(The level of disagreement and pushback from trustees could signal a turning point in Cunningham’s tenure at UNC. At 62, the respected AD probably doesn’t need another job — but this could be the impetus to look for one.)

Chancellor Lee Roberts met with Belichick in Massachusetts over a long weekend to discuss his vision for the job and increase the likelihood of its realization. As more candidates dropped out or declined interest, it became increasingly clear that UNC had bought into the idea of ​​hiring Belichick. The job was his if he wanted it.

Personnel additions and NIL signings will be key parts of the deal, and the expected arrival of Stephen Belichick provides additional momentum. His current and future role as his father’s potential successor is an important consideration. This season marked the first time the younger Belichick worked for someone other than his father, and Washington’s defense had its best season since 2018 in yards allowed per play (5.0) and per game (324.8).

While a Carolina Blue Bill Belichick era will have an aura and generate an incredible amount of buzz, it hasn’t inspired fear in at least one Tar Heels rival. North Carolina State quarterback CJ Bailey had this to say while facing off against The Hoodie on Wednesday.

“I saw that,” Bailey said. “Shoot, Bill Belichick will get it too. We’re going to beat UNC five years in a row. No matter who the UNC coach is, we’re going to kick them out… It means a lot to me that I could play against Bill Belichick. But if he comes to play, we will kill them. We will kill them.”

Maybe, maybe not, but North Carolina’s unprecedented, breathtaking reach for football stars creates a whole new perspective at a basketball school. Bill Belichick, college coach, will be fascinating.