Bill Belichick has never had to deal with the recruiting aspect of college football at any point during his legendary 49-year coaching career. It is truly bizarre to watch him try and befriend a bunch of 16-, 17- and 18-year-olds who may or may not choose to play at North Carolina.
However, credit where credit is due, his dap game is on point!
Belichick, 72, concluded his college football at Wesleyan in 1974 and immediately made the jump to the pros. He got his first opportunity as a special assistant for the Baltimore Colts and climbed his way up the ladder with the Lions, Broncos, Giants, Browns and Patriots. Never once did he return to college.
Thus, it was shocking when Belichick was named as the 35th head football coach at the University of North Carolina back in December. This is a new thing for (almost) everyone involved.
We know that Belichick can coach because he won six Super Bowls with New England. But what about the other parts of a college job that did not exist on the NFL level?
Bill Belichick perfected his dap!
The plan is for the Tar Heels to operate like a professional organization. The NIL era makes college football more like the National Football League than ever before, just without the guardrails, and Michael Lombardi will serve as the General Manager in Chapel Hill so the head coach can focus on coaching.
Bill Belichick explained how college 🏈 is now using a pro model for roster management.
— Mit Winter (@WinterSportsLaw) March 8, 2025
The GM handles “the contracts, the salaries.”
He said it’s basically the same process as the NFL, except free agency is annual.
Another example of how high level college 🏈 is a pro sport. pic.twitter.com/0KNtg4cP8B
Although Lombardi will help to take some of the pressure off of Belichick, Belichick still has to recruit. He has to sell a bunch of high schoolers on why they should play for him for the first time in his life. A large number of them are going to decide not to play for him. That is something he has yet to experience!
It is a weird sight to witness. Bill Belichick and his (much younger) girlfriend attended UNC’s home basketball game against Duke on Saturday. He wore a suit because it was all business.
Bill Belichick is in attendance for UNC-Duke tonight 🏀 pic.twitter.com/PIeYZasF7F
— Bussin' With The Boys (@BussinWTB) March 9, 2025
A large number of high school football players were also invited to the game as guests of Lombardi and Belichick. The latter made sure to greet all of athletes (and their families) individually. It was our first look at how he interacts with recruits in the wild and it seems as though he has mastered the art of the “dap.”
#UNC head coach Bill Belichick greeting football recruits inside the Smith Center pic.twitter.com/gZB2LosDL1
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) March 8, 2025
This new situation at North Carolina is going to take some serious getting used to. At no point in my life did I ever expect to see Bill Belichick shake the hands of high schoolers in hopes of convincing them to play for his college football team. And yet, here we are!