Legendary NFL coach Bill Belichick is set to take over at North Carolina, bringing perhaps the greatest professional coach in history to a new frontier. Belichick is the all-time leader with six Super Bowl wins and one of only three coaches -- along with Don Shula and George Halas -- to win more than 300 games in the NFL.
However, Belichick has never coached college football -- even early in his career. Belichick started as essentially an office assistant for an NFL coach in 1975, and he never looked back. With his lack of experience at this level, he makes for a fascinating study.
Every year, the CBS Sports college football team puts together a comprehensive ranking of all 68 power conference coaches. Last season, former North Carolina coach Mack Brown ranked No. 37 on the list, sandwiched between No. 36 Bret Bielema and No. 38 Pat Narduzzi.
The next list won't come out for several months as at least two Power Four jobs remain open (West Virginia and UCF). Plus, there will be plenty of movement after a tumultuous 2024 season. Still, we survey several of our writers to approximate where they think Belichick will rank when he debuts in 2025 out of 68 coaches.
Shehan Jeyarajah: Around 50
Belichick is one of the greatest coaches that the sport of football has ever seen, but the skills of a college and pro coach are wildly different in this era. His encyclopedic knowledge of football will only be a footnote in his case compared to recruiting, developing and managing personnel. It even goes as granular as scheme install and teaching 17 and 18-year-old kids from the middle of nowhere ball instead of successful NFL vets. He should be able to attract solid assistants who want to learn, but Belichick also doesn't have a wide network in college.
As a frame of reference, Bill O'Brien ranked 51 last season when he returned to college football from the NFL, and he had a successful stint at Penn State and led Alabama to a title game as an offensive coordinator. Can you confidently rank Belichick much higher than that?
John Talty: Top 10
He's immediately the most accomplished coach in college football, but that doesn't mean he'll be the most successful. Just as his friend Nick Saban's "process" wasn't as successful in the NFL, it's no guarantee that Belichick's "do your job" philosophy flourishes in this current age of college football. We know Belichick is a brilliant football mind, but his staff makeup will be critically important given his lack of college experience. Still, when you consider we had Lincoln Riley, Brian Kelly and Mike Norvell in the top 10 of our 2024 coach rankings, I'm comfortable putting Belichick in the top 10 right away.
Brandon Marcello: Top 20
Bill Belichick's credentials are impeccable and his credentials immediately make him one of the best coaches in the sport, but college football is not so much about coaching anymore as it is about running a multi-million dollar business. The job is unruly and presents new, unforeseen challenges every day.
This isn't the NFL. We know that. Would Belichick have been as successful as he was with the New England Patriots if his roster flipped every season? I'm not so sure. Can Belichick build loyalty with players? I believe the comparison to Nick Saban is warranted. As much as the former Alabama coach hated what the sport had become, he managed to keep his roster intact because of relationships and his pedigree in developing championship rosters. Until Belichick can do that, it's fair to question whether he can succeed. Deion Sanders has proven himself the last two years. Trent Dilfer has failed at UAB.
I'm also reminded of a common line in the industry: NFL head coaches want to be general managers; college head coaches do not want to be GMs. Why? There are protocols and credentials required for NFL players to negotiate and leave teams with the guidance of certified agents. There are many professionals representing college players, sure, but many are "agents" with no training or experience, and some were hawking shoes on eBay just a few months ago and viewed the transfer portal as a new grift. How will a legendary coach handle the ever-changing dynamics of NIL collectives and the massive turnover of leadership on university campuses? Does he have the patience to navigate those impossible labyrinths day to day? Many head coaches hate it and several have left the profession because of it. That's not the case in the NFL, where coaches rarely just step away because of the rigors of the job.
Also, is Belichick in this job for the long term? He's 72 and reports of him wanting a succession plan for his son, Stephen, is a red flag. Belichick is a top-20 coach in college football, but like any professional entering a new field, there will be growing pains and rarely do we see a legend jump into a different lane with the correct amount of vigor to be ultra successful.
What exactly is the dynamic with UNC's administration? It's fractured and has long been that way. Is UNC prepared to succeed with full support in revenue sharing and what will the university's role be with NIL? At the end of the day, the richest programs get the best players, and though Belichick's resume is sure to attract interest from recruits, the truth is players care about winning championships and providing financial security to their families. That's much different than the NFL model.
Chip Patterson: 10-25
Typically the 10-25 range of our annual CBS Sports Coach Rankings ballot, released every May on CBSSports.com and your CBS Sports App, is where things start to get transient. There are coaches riding former success that may have lost their fastball lining up with stars on the rise. Given Bill Belichick's high level of success coaching the game I doubt he'd be outside my top 25, but with no college coaching experience I would not put him inside my top 10.
Tom Fornelli: Outside the top 25
Is he bringing Tom Brady with him? I'm not going to question Bill Belichick's knowledge of the sport of football, as it's top-notch. However, there is no shortage of college football coaches who understand the ins and outs of football schematics. I'm not trying to diminish Belichick's success, but it's a factual statement that he won 77% of his games with Tom Brady as his starting QB and only 45% of them without him. Also, Brady went on to win a Super Bowl without Belichick, while Bill went 29-38 after Tom left.
Belichick may have grown up among college programs with his father, but he himself has never coached at the level. Do you really want to deal with a learning curve for a 72-year old coach who is unlikely to stick around a long time? If you want to put him in your top 25 coaches I'm not going to say you're crazy, but he won't be in mine.
Richard Johnson: Bottom Half
If I was judging on ball-knowing alone, he's No. 1 and it isn't close. But I'm not just doing that, I'm considering Belichick specifically at North Carolina. I don't know how you include him in the top half of the rankings because being a college coach is about more than coaching ball. Can you create the right infrastructure to win in this version of the sport? It's not like Belichick parted ways with New England when the Pats were still in Super Bowl contention. At the end, his GM chops were failing, so either he's going to turn that responsibility over to someone else or continue to do it in a version of the sport he's never worked in? Nothing Belichick said on Pat McAfee is anything different than what your run of the mill NFL coach considering college football has said. There were many reasons Urban Meyer didn't work with the Jaguars, and I find this to be analogous to that move.
North Carolina has a deeply fractured administrative dynamic and it's not conducive to success in football. The dysfunction throughout this process shows why the program has been unserious for as long as it has. Into that environment, you're turning over the keys to a guy who has not coached in college ever. His own former players have deep doubts about how he'd appeal to today's college players. I have serious doubts about his seriousness longterm in this job (and given that he's in his 70s, long term means about 4 years). I have serious doubts about how he'd fare in an un-salary capped league against programs who are better suited to attract the highest-level talent imaginable and when Belichick doesn't have the best quarterback of all time.