Six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick, 72, is headed to the college football ranks and will serve as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels. The school announced it had reached a five-year deal with Belichick, replacing the program’s winningest coach, Mack Brown.

Belichick said in a statement: “I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill. I grew up around college football with my dad and treasured those times. I have always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.”   Belichick’s late father, Steve, was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953-55.

UNC athletics director Bubba Cunningham added: “We know that college athletics is changing, and those changes require new and innovative thinking. Bill Belichick is a football legend, and hiring him to lead our program represents a new approach that will ensure Carolina football can evolve, compete and win — today and in the future.”

The legendary coach began his NFL coaching career as an assistant with the Baltimore Colts in 1975 and later worked as defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells with the New York Giants, winning two Super Bowls during that stint. He also spent five seasons as head coach of the Cleveland Browns in the first half of the 1990s. He went on to become head coach in 2000 with the Patriots, winning his first Super Bowl title as a head coach his seocond year with QB Tom Brady under his wing.  Belichick and Brady went on to win the Super Bowl for the 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons. Belichick holds 333 career regular-season and postseason wins in the NFL, while his 31 playoff wins are the most in league history.

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