Or Bankrupt. We'll see.
Buh bye! Mack Brown out at UNC, Bill Belichick in
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No, I don’t love him. In fact, for many years I despised him on a personal level. And I resented all of his incredible success, especially when my beloved Dallas Cowboys had a succession of mediocre to horrible head coaches (Chan Gailey, Dave, Campo, Wade, Phillips, Jason, Garrett, Mike McCarthy) during Belichick’s tenure in New England.
Over the years with New England he just came up with brilliant defensive scheme after brilliant defensive scheme and set up Tom Brady and the offense for success over and over and over again. And his organization skills, delegation of authority to the right people, work ethic and leadership are unmatched. And his coaching record is unparalleled — 9 Super Bowl appearances, 6 Super Bowl championships. And the incredible superlatives in regard to Belichick that I’ve read about and heard about from his coaches, his players, opposing players, opposing coaches, sportswriters, NFL historians, etc. etc. are almost too numerous to count.
Football is my all-time favorite sport to watch, read about and talk about, and Bill Belichick is the greatest coach who has ever walked the sidelines, This is not just me talking — it’s the many many people I previously mentioned. And all of them (except maybe the sportswriters) know 100 times more about this sport than you or I or anyone else on DBR. Period.
And I played the sport at a reasonably high level — starting quarterback for my WestTexas high school team. But my knowledge of the sport pales in comparison to all of these others. And they fairly unanimously agree that Bill Belichick is the greatest of them all.
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Good takes. I wonder though about why he hasn't been able to have success without Brady. I also imagine it will be quite the holy grail win to beat the GOAT. Buckle up BB and UNC, lots of folks tired of those Super Bowl moments years ago may have you in their sights for the big win before you have implemented your 400 page plan at 72 years old.
No, I don’t “love” him. In fact, I used to despise him on a personal level. And I resented all of his incredible success, especially when my beloved Dallas Cowboys had a succession of mediocre to horrible head coaches (Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett, Mike McCarthy) during Belichick’s tenure in New England.
Over the years with New England he just came up with brilliant defensive scheme after brilliant defensive scheme and set up Tom Brady and the offense for success over and over and over again. And his organization skills, delegation of authority to the right people, work ethic and leadership are unmatched. And his coaching record is unparalleled — 9 Super Bowl appearances, 6 Super Bowl championships. And the incredible superlatives in regard to Belichick that I’ve read about and heard about from his coaches, his players, opposing players, opposing coaches, sportswriters, NFL historians, etc. etc. are almost too numerous to count.
Football is my all-time favorite sport to watch, read about and talk about, and Bill Belichick is the greatest coach who has ever walked the sidelines, This is not just me talking — it’s the many many people I previously mentioned. And all of them (except maybe the sportswriters) know 100 times more about this sport than you or I or anyone else on DBR. Period.
And I played the sport at a reasonably high level — starting quarterback for my WestTexas high school team. But my knowledge of the sport pales in comparison to all of these others. And they fairly unanimously agree that Bill Belichick is the greatest of them all.
It’s really not a surprise that Belichick finally had some fallow years during his last several seasons in New England (after Brady left), though he did bring his team to the playoffs one of those years. First of all, he had the worst starting QBs in the entire NFL. Second, New England had a series of mediocre (and worse) drafts. Third, the overall roster talent had atrophied considerably. Fourth, the owner was one of the cheapest — if not THE cheapest — in the entire league and at a certain point the cumulative toll from that is just too much to overcome, even for the greatest coach in history. Fifth, the relationship between Belichick and Kraft was irreparably damaged and that affected the team and the entire organization in a very negative way. No coach would have had success under these circumstances.
It’s very understandable why Belichick had a poor last few seasons. But it absolutely is NOT about him suddenly forgetting how to coach, organize, work hard and lead men. He still knows how to do all of that at the highest of levels. And now he is recharged and has something to prove. Unfortunately, he’s about to remind all of us what a great coach he truly is. And I’m not happy about it.
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AustinDevil
Member
Look, I know it’s hard to be a Cowboys fan since Jimmy left, and it’s cool that you played high school football, but no, you haven’t actually “previously mentioned” “many many people” except for mediocre to outright-failed Cowboys coaches. You’ve just hand-waved in the direction of their existence. But even if we stipulate that he was once the best NFL coach—and Shula would like a word about that—there are good reasons why NFL teams will not hire him anymore. His greatness—and sure, he was great, whether or not he was the coaching GOAT—is far past its sell-by date. You also write as if paeans to his greatness are universal—they are not, including right now from prominent players going on record to doubt he can motivate college kids.
Prominent players are not talking negatively about Belichick’s coaching accomplishments in the NFL. I believe that was what you asked me about — why I think Belichick is such a great coach, historically-speaking. Right? All I did was answer your question.
And yes, I did previously mention many people who praised Belichick — his players, his coaches, many of his opposing players, most of his opposing coaches, hundreds of sportswriters, hundreds of football historians, etc. All told that is literally thousands of knowledgeable football people who have attested to Belichick’s greatness over the years.
And yeah, it was pretty cool to play high school football in Texas, especially at the quarterback position. The fringe benefits, particularly with the girls, were off the charts. But the sport was brutal. I got my nose broken badly twice and had three concussions, the last of which forced me into early retirement from the sport.
ThirdDevil
Member
Honestly that would be a waste when they could save $50 million a year and still be one of the top remaining brands.
No, I don’t love him. In fact, for many years I despised him on a personal level. And I resented all of his incredible success, especially when my beloved Dallas Cowboys had a succession of mediocre to horrible head coaches (Chan Gailey, Dave Campo, Wade Phillips, Jason Garrett, Mike McCarthy) during Belichick’s tenure in New England.
There, I fixed it! Had some misplaced commas
There, I fixed it! Had some misplaced commas
I liked this quote best:
“if bringing in a man who will one day have his own entire wing of the Pro Football Hall of Fame fails to rouse one the most puzzling meh programs in the 155-year history of the sport, then nothing ever will”
UNC is considered a sleeping giant despite ZERO evidence to support that idea. They haven’t won a conference championship since 1980. If they can’t win the ACC while being led by the greatest coach of all time, that seems like clear proof that UNC CAN’T be a giant.
That thought is more delicious than a maple bacon doughnut. And Duke under Manny Diaz can make that happen.
Yum.
bluedevilwildcats
Member
Overrated (.463 winning percentage w/o Brady) and curmudgeonly Bill Belichick to coach a clearly desperate UNC. This is going to be all sorts of awful, I'll be surprised if he makes it more than 2 years. Can't wait.
Mtn.Devil.91.92.01.10.15
Member
Honestly, I'm super excited to see what this will be. It's most likely to be a complete dumpster fire that we can all just enjoy to our heart's content. But the slim chance that it somehow works would be just fascinating to watch too.
Obviously as our rivals I'm rooting for the enjoyment of the catastrophe. But for any casual sports fan with no skin in the game, it's a win-win to see what the carnival has to offer for entertainment.
Obviously as our rivals I'm rooting for the enjoyment of the catastrophe. But for any casual sports fan with no skin in the game, it's a win-win to see what the carnival has to offer for entertainment.
ragamuffin
Member
I hate BB. He was average for my Browns then went on to greatness. Blech!
Doesn’t strike me as a great recruiter, but maybe that doesn’t matter anymore since it’s all about the $$$$.
Doesn’t strike me as a great recruiter, but maybe that doesn’t matter anymore since it’s all about the $$$$.
unix_joe
Member
He will almost certainly set up the institution for long term success and this is the stepping stone to joining another more serious football conference. This is a quick deal to get them to the professional level in college football instead of whatever larping they have tried over the past few decades.
He will also likely choose his successor and the new framework will set that person up for success as well. At a minimum it means the state is willing to play a game that we have been reluctant to commit to for a long time.
I think it's a great hire and I hope I'm wrong. Maybe he can get them to demolish the Kenan name on a new Belichick stadium as well.
He will also likely choose his successor and the new framework will set that person up for success as well. At a minimum it means the state is willing to play a game that we have been reluctant to commit to for a long time.
I think it's a great hire and I hope I'm wrong. Maybe he can get them to demolish the Kenan name on a new Belichick stadium as well.
This is spot on. It seems to me there was a clear sense among knowledgeable NFL observers that his skills as a strategist and, perhaps even more so, as an evaluator of talent had declined considerably later in his Pats tenure. He was the GM after all for that succession of poor drafts and whiffs in free agency.
BrummieDevil
Member
For me it's because they could've given an actual college coach who's also not merely one year younger than Mack a bunch of portal money to play with too.
I'm not saying Belichick won't have success, but this reeks of desperation and taking what they think is the easy route to success even though nobody else seems to think this is a sure thing. If they hit it big in the portal this offseason, it'll quickly be a different story. But I'm not sure this is a bigger swing than going for some younger hot shot who has succeeded at multiple college levels, for instance.
Look at what Indiana did hiring Curt Cignetti, who has a sparkling track record going from D-II to FCS to FBS and just now to a power conference. There are other guys like him out there (e.g., Kalin DeBoer, etc.). Or even Pat Kelsey with Louisville basketball (younger, energetic, proved himself at Winthrop/Charleston and immediately has the Cards back to being a solid team again). I honestly think those kind of hires are more high ceiling rolls of the dice than what is definitely just a short-term hire of Belichick.
No matter what type of success Belichick has at UNC, in a few short years they're going to need to look for a more typical candidate again.
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CameronBlue
Member
“For a program awash in apathy and mediocrity, this marks a distinct and compelling shift from Mack Brown, as Belichick gives the Tar Heels an unprecedented jolt of star power for 2025 and beyond.’
Apathy and mediocrity breed in the absence Of passion. They mutate into unrecognizable and hard to detect forces that work in opposition to building a successful, cohesive culture and “team first” attitude. By buying into “sleeping giant”, “Carolina Way” “flagship university” and similar tropes UNC has perpetuated a sense of entitlement that has sapped real passion from the program that is born of the grit and determination to succeed and achieve goals that are internalized as accomplishments, not gifts of birthright. Passion ebbs and flows in college sports in ways unfamiliar to Belichik. I watch Manny’s halftime inspiring speech against UNC that propelled Duke to a come from behind victory and a 9-3 season and can’t imagine Belichik conjuring up a similar passion and eliciting a similar response from a college team. Not to minimize the value of Belichik’s corporate perspective but In college it’s what happens on game day that counts.
Whatever happens at UNC happens. At the moment I’m pretty comfortable with the tandem of Diaz and King leading Duke into the uncharted NIL waters that lay ahead.
Apathy and mediocrity breed in the absence Of passion. They mutate into unrecognizable and hard to detect forces that work in opposition to building a successful, cohesive culture and “team first” attitude. By buying into “sleeping giant”, “Carolina Way” “flagship university” and similar tropes UNC has perpetuated a sense of entitlement that has sapped real passion from the program that is born of the grit and determination to succeed and achieve goals that are internalized as accomplishments, not gifts of birthright. Passion ebbs and flows in college sports in ways unfamiliar to Belichik. I watch Manny’s halftime inspiring speech against UNC that propelled Duke to a come from behind victory and a 9-3 season and can’t imagine Belichik conjuring up a similar passion and eliciting a similar response from a college team. Not to minimize the value of Belichik’s corporate perspective but In college it’s what happens on game day that counts.
Whatever happens at UNC happens. At the moment I’m pretty comfortable with the tandem of Diaz and King leading Duke into the uncharted NIL waters that lay ahead.
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