That’s it?
Bill Belichick is really out of our lives forever? That doesn’t feel right.
There was supposed to be at least one more NFL chapter. One more storyline. He was going to gather his band of familiar Patriots coaching pals together for one more building job. One more attempt to be a Super Bowl contender. Chicago? Jacksonville? Dallas? Who cares?
Bill Belichick starting anew with something to prove and a record on the line was going to be great theater no matter what city it happened in. Bill vs. Time. Like Tom Brady in Tampa or Roger Clemens in Toronto.
Whether he succeeded or failed, it was going to be an incredibly compelling story. But it was ripped out from under us.
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Instead, we get this. It feels like they canceled a great TV show with the main conflict unresolved. What if Breaking Bad was canceled before Walter White was discovered? We’re being ripped off.
Belichick taking the head coaching job at North Carolina is interesting on the national stage, but around here it’s just anticlimactic.
It’s an epilogue. There are great coaches in college football. True legends to be sure. But Belichick doesn’t have time to become one. His tenure will be like one of the countless transfers that he’ll have to coach now — whatever impact he makes won’t last long enough to build a real foundation for whoever follows him.
I don’t remember what Bill Walsh accomplished at Stanford because it doesn’t matter. His legacy was the 49ers NFL dynasty. Unless Bill Belichick wins a National Championship at UNC, the first line of his obituary will be:
“Six-time Super Bowl-winning Patriots head coach Bill Belichick etc. etc.”
Outside of Chapel Hill, they’re looking at Belichick as some carpet-bagger, thinking he can simply parachute into college football and thrive. That sport is sacred in Texas, and the South and Midwest. Bigger than baseball, way bigger than hockey and at least on par with the NBA.
Sadly, it’s never caught on up here. Boston College makes bowl games almost every year and few people can ever name their starting quarterback or any other Eagle player.
Assuming Belichick’s stint at Carolina is short, it’s hard to know what bar he’s reaching for. Does he have to make the College Football Playoff?
Even if he does, in the changing face of college football, it’s hard to know how much credit to give the head coach. He could prepare and strategize brilliantly, but if he doesn’t have enough NIL money, he might not have the horses to surpass Miami or Clemson or SMU.
UNC has always been better than average, but rarely great at football. Football is something to do in Chapel Hill until its elite men’s basketball program tips off in late fall.
A big group of Patriots fans will probably tune in on Aug. 30 when the Tar Heels host TCU at Chapel Hill, a week before the NFL season starts. But after that, they’re unlikely to care. Fall Saturdays in New England are for yardwork or golf, with Sunday’s designated for football.
Under the ACC’s current scheduling model, the UNC only plays Boston College once in the next six seasons — 2028 in Chapel Hill. Unless they change the schedule format, the soonest Belichick could come back to New England in a power blue hoodie — and that’s not guaranteed — would be 2031, when he’d be 79. Seventy-nine.
For New Englanders, he’ll be out of sight and out of mind.
That wouldn’t have been true if he got an NFL job. And eventually, some NFL team is going to regret not taking at least a chance on Belichick. Some team is going to make a bad hire and wonder:
Would Bill Belichick have been better?
There’s no turning around. At his age, this is the last gig.
So that’s it.
No final chase for Don Shula’s record.
No finding out if Belichick can build a playoff team without Tom Brady.
No returning to Gillette Stadium with a new team to face Robert Kraft and Jerod Mayo.
He’s on to Duke. Or Wake Forest or NC State. Or some other place we won’t care about.
That’s a pretty big letdown.
Follow MassLive sports columnist Matt Vautour on Twitter at @MattVautour424.x
