Bill Belichick goes to college. What did we learn about former Browns coach? – Terry Pluto

CLEVELAND, Ohio – I didn’t intend to watch Bill Belichick’s first game as the head coach of North Carolina.

But Belichick …

For many of us who have followed the Browns, there’s something about that name. We were there when Belichick had his training wheels job as a first time head coach. That was from 1991-95 when the Browns were 36-44.

The supporters of Belichick will mention how he took the Browns to the 1994 playoffs and defeated the Patriots in the first round. That was in his fourth season. Then his career in Cleveland was knocked off course by the team announcing they were moving to Baltimore.

Belichick critics will point out that, yes, the Browns were 4-4 when word of the move became public in 1995. But they also had lost 3 of their last 4 games. QB Vinny Testaverde had been benched in favor of Eric Zeier.

In the end, the Browns were 5-11. Belichick was fired after the franchise went to Baltimore. He later reinvented himself as head coach of the New England Patriots.

Six Super Bowl titles later … There’s still something about that name.

In his first game at North Carolina, celebrities such as Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor, Mia Hamm, Aaron Boone, Randy Moss and many others showed up. The Tar Heels have sold out their season.

The 33rd NFL team?

At 73, Belichick is now a rookie college head coach. It has been 34 years since Belichick was hired to coach the Browns.

Can he pull this off? Can he recreate himself again in the wild world of the NIL and the college transfer portal? Even some veteran college football coaches aren’t sure exactly how to deal with all the changes in recruiting and paying players.

When Belichick was hired by North Carolina, one of his first decisions was to bring in former Browns GM Mike Lombardi as GM of the Tar Heels. College teams now have general managers to handle the business side of college football recruiting.

Not long after taking the job, Lombardi proclaimed North Carolina would be the “33rd NFL team.” It’s a good sales pitch with all the former NFL people on the UNC staff. But the fact is schools such as Ohio State, LSU, Texas, Georgia and many others have been what amounts to NFL farm teams for decades.

Ohio State opened its season with a 14-7 victory over Texas. Twenty-two NFL teams had representatives scouting that game. Makes sense. Texas and OSU had a combined 26 players drafted in 2024 by the NFL. The Buckeyes had seven players selected in the top 45.

As I watched the game, I was surprised when I saw the camera focused on former Browns head coach Freddie Kitchens in the press box. He’s the offensive coordinator for Belichick. I had lost track of Kitchens, who was fired by Cleveland after a 6-10 record in 2019.

Belichick’s special teams coach is Mike Priefer, who had that job with the Browns from 2019-22. His linebackers coach is Jamie Collins, who played for the Patriots and the Browns.

Belichick’s son (Steve) is the defensive coordinator. He had been on Belichick New England staff for 12 years. Another son (Brian) is a defensive backs coach. He had been with Belichick for nine years with the Patriots.

The quarterback coach is Matt Lombardi, son of Mike Lombardi. Belichick has been allowed to build a staff his way with his people.

Welcome to college

Belichick and the Tar Heels were rocked, 48-14, by TCU. UNC scored on its first possession, then struggled for the first of the half to even record a first down.

The 48 points allowed were the most in Belichick’s coaching career. He lost 47-17 to Buffalo in 2021.

The 34-point loss was the second most lopsided in his career. He lost by 35 points (38-3) to Dallas in 2023.

TCU is a very good college program. The Horned Frogs were 9-4 last season, 6-3 in the Big 12. They lost to Georgia 65-7 in the 2022 national championship game.

Coaching TCU is Sonny Dykes, a college-lifer. He was gracious, but you could see that he and his players took delight in hammering the hyped-up North Carolina team in Chapel Hill.

Belichick losing was not a surprise. He has brought in 70 new players. This is not a short-term project. But being embarrassed was shocking, at least to me.

Over the decades, Belichick has annoyed some in the NFL. These people love to point out the Belichick had a 249-75 record and those six Super Bowl titles with Tom Brady at QB.

His record without Brady was 84-103. In his last four seasons after Brady left, New England was 29-38.

Can Belichick make it work at UNC? I have no clue, other than my guess is he’s finding it much harder than he ever imagined.