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The multi-day melodrama that played out between Bill Belichick and North Carolina blunted a bit of the shock of the Tar Heels hiring the 72-year-old, six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach, but industry consensus was nonetheless stunned/shocked/surprised as the two sides barreled closer to the goal-line.
The news finally saw daylight Wednesday. North Carolina officially announced Belichick as coach Dec. 11, with him saying in a statement he looked forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.
CBS Sports surveyed a smattering of athletic directors, coaches and agents about the Belichick-North Carolina marriage, offering anonymity in exchange for candor.
College/pro coaching agent: “North Carolina, at this point, does not care about football being successful.”
SEC athletic director: “Obviously a brilliant coaching mind. He also brings a pragmatic view of how to balance money in this new age of paying players … Not sure of the fit. Saying that, I would never bet against him.”
Big Ten athletic director: “You’re only as good as your options, keep that in mind, if he’s serious candidate then that tells me a bit about the options.”
SEC athletic director: “I think it’s a risk/reward situation. The guy obviously knows how to win, has been in a pro system which we are basically headed to, etc. Not sure he’d be great with donors and some of the things that pro sports don’t have. I do think we all have to think outside the box moving forward though.”
Agent: “They’d be replacing one 70-plus year-old-dude with another, in an ever-evolving era of football and a coach who’s never navigated it, and he seems to get annoyed at the slightest hint of him not having all the power.
“With donors, campus reps, and a state university,…
Source link : https://www.cbssports.com/college-football/news/bill-belichick-to-north-carolina-reaction-why-college-football-nfl-figures-either-love-or-hate-hire/
Author : John Talty
Publish date : 2024-12-12 01:37:00
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