Bill Belichick threw the football world a major curveball last week.
The legendary head coach, who spent nearly 50 years in the NFL and won six Super Bowl titles with the New England Patriots before his exit in January 2024, officially took the University of North Carolina's head coach job Wednesday.
Belichick's move to college was a stunning development for an NFL lifer who was just 15 wins away from passing Don Shula for the most career victories by an NFL head coach. And even Belichick's longtime former quarterback was caught off-guard by the news.
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Ex-Patriots QB Tom Brady, who's now a color analyst for FOX Sports, shared his take on his former boss heading to Chapel Hill during FOX's broadcast of Eagles-Steelers.
"Kind of blew me away when I heard the news," Brady admitted. "I didn't think that was an opportunity he was looking at, but they're getting an obviously tremendous coach, and being in that locker room with him for as many years (as I was), those guys are going to play very hard; he's going to coach them well.
"It's a great benefit for all those players going to that program, because they're getting the best coach that the NFL has ever seen, and now he's at a college level."
"Kind of blew me away when I heard the news." @TomBrady shared his thoughts on Bill Belichick becoming head coach at UNC 👏 @CFBonFOX pic.twitter.com/GpZmUZwG3P
— FOX Sports: NFL (@NFLonFOX) December 16, 2024
While Brady didn't leave New England on the best of terms with Belichick in 2020, the legendary QB and head coach have heaped praise on each other in recent years and appear to have mended fences. But Brady couldn't resist pointing out Belichick's famously gruff demeanor when asked what he thought Belichick would be like as a college head coach.
"The thing is, he's not the warmest and fuzziest of all time," Brady said before relaying a classic story in which Belichick congratulated Brady for pulling off a massive upset of the St. Louis Rams in Super Bowl XXXVI by telling the young QB, "You had a pretty good season."
We can understand why Brady is surprised to see his former coach join the college ranks to work with 20-year-olds while diving into the weeds of NIL and transfer portals. The ex-QB even scoffed at the notion that Belichick would take the UNC job last Sunday after rumors first surfaced.
Belichick appears fully committed to his new gig, however -- his deal with UNC runs through 2029 -- so we'll find out very soon how he adapts to his new environment.
