Bill Belichick confirmed in an interview on “The Pat McAfee Show” Monday afternoon that he has had discussions with North Carolina about the school’s open coaching position.

Sources told ESPN that talks between UNC and the 72-year-old Belichick have continued and a resolution is expected this week.

ESPN’s Adam Schefter reported Belichick met with North Carolina officials for five hours on Sunday. A smiling Belichick declined comment when asked specifically about this interview, joking that he wanted to keep his old press conference aura.

Belichick confirmed to McAfee that he had “some good conversations” with UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts. He added, “We’ll see how that goes.” He ended the interview by saying of the UNC job, “We’ll see. We’ll see.”

The NCAA transfer portal opened Monday, potentially putting UNC’s roster in motion. Sources told ESPN that Belichick met with UNC officials in New York last week and dialogue has continued.

Belichick spoke hypothetically about what his college program might look like and emphasized “If” He took a college job. He noted that modern college football is much more like the NFL.

“If I were to go to a college program, the college program would be a connection to the NFL for the players that would have the opportunity to play in the NFL,” he said. “It would be a professional program – training, nutrition, programming, coaching and techniques that would translate to the NFL.”

He concluded a lengthy portrait of what the program would look like by saying, “It would be an NFL program, but not at the NFL level.”

Belichick never coached at the college level, but grew up on college campuses, including his father’s three-year stint as a UNC assistant coach.

For UNC, the candidate pool outside of Belichick is dwindling, which has increased the pressure to hire him.

Tulane coach Jon Sumrall will no longer be associated with the job. Tulane announced Monday that it had reached an agreement in principle with Sumrall to extend his contract.

Sumrall and Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith were two names most strongly linked to the job when it opened. Smith is no longer in that job. Iowa State’s Matt Campbell is not expected to be a candidate.

UNC has also spoken to Army’s Jeff Monken about the opening, as well as Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann and former Arizona Cardinals and Carolina Panthers head coach Steve Wilks, a source told ESPN’s Chris Low.

It is uncertain how intense UNC’s talks with Belichick are, according to sources, unless they have already been ongoing for an extended period of time.

Sources said UNC’s search was scattered as there was uncertainty in the industry about who was conducting it. Board of Trustees Chairman John P. Preyer has been a key supporter of Belichick throughout the process and has motivated a group at the school advocating for Belichick’s eventual hiring.

Some people with ties to Belichick are skeptical he would take the job since he has never worked in college football. Others say he was sincere and thorough in his interests and had a desire to return to the sidelines.

There are issues at the forefront of Belichick’s courtship, including the potential role of his son Stephen Belichick, UNC’s NIL resources, Belichick’s salary and staff resources.

Belichick made it clear Monday afternoon that he was still interested in the job. And there are many additional signs in the landscape to prove this.

UNC officials have hypothetically talked about potential interest from players if Belichick took the job. They stressed that nothing has been done, but they have had discussions about the idea.

Third parties have also been calling potential employees for a college job if a deal were to go through, sources said. Belichick’s exploration included a look at almost every aspect of college coaching and what it would look like.