Head coach Bill Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl winner, has agreed to a five-year contract to be the next coach at the University of North Carolina (UNC).
The college confirmed the signing Wednesday night, about a week after the 72-year-old Belichick's name emerged as an unlikely candidate to replace the program's most successful coach of all time, Mack Brown.
The deal requires approval from the UNC trustees, with a press conference revealing Belichick to be held at a later date.
“I am excited about the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill,” he said.
“I grew up around college football with my dad and he treasured those moments. I always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building a football program in Chapel Hill.”
UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham: “We know that college athletics are changing, and that 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 continue to evolve, compete and win – today and in the future.
The university announced last month that Brown would not be returning for a seventh season in his second spell at Chapel Hill.
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Back in January, Neil Reynolds reflected on Belichick's incredible tenure in New England after he announced he was leaving the Patriots after 24 seasons
Moving on from Brown, 73, to hiring Belichick, 72, means UNC is turning to a coach who has never worked at the college level, but has half of NFL success with quarterback Tom Brady throughout most of his 24-year tenure with the Patriots, which ended last season.
Belichick had been linked to NFL jobs in the time since then, most notably the Atlanta Falcons in January.
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