Associated Press

North Carolina has interviewed former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick for its head coaching position, two people with knowledge of the situation said Thursday.

Both people spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because the school isn’t commenting publicly on its search.

Belichick’s interview, first reported by Inside Carolina, comes a week after the school fired its winningest coach in College Football Hall of Famer Mack Brown. The school announced Nov. 26 that Brown wouldn’t return for a seventh season in his second stint at the school, with Brown staying on to coach last weekend’s rivalry loss to N.C. State.

Former Cleveland Browns coach Freddie Kitchens is working as the interim coach for an upcoming bowl game as UNC conducts it search.

Moving on from the 73-year-old Brown to hire the 72-year-old Belichick would mean UNC is turning to a coach who has never worked at the college level, yet had incredible NFL success alongside quarterback Tom Brady throughout most of his 24-year tenure with the Patriots that ended last season.

In the time since, he had been linked to NFL jobs, notably the Atlanta Falcons in January.

UNC’s opening comes at a time of rapid changes in college athletics with free player movement through the transfer portal and players able to cash in on their athletic fame with endorsement opportunities.

There’s also the impending arrival of revenue sharing, part of a $2.8 billion antitrust settlement proposal that gained preliminary approval by a judge in October.

“I think it’s a great time for me to get out,” Brown said after Saturday’s loss to the Wolfpack. “This isn’t the game that I signed up for. It’s changed so much.”

In an UNC-produced podcast earlier this week, athletic director Bubba Cunningham said all the coaches the school is talking with about its job “are playing,” with college football having reached its conference title games before unveiling the 12-team College Football Playoff and bowl assignments.

Cunningham said then that “fit” was the most important thing in finding Brown’s successor.

“There’s a certain person that’s best suited at the right time, at the right place,” he said. “And right now, that’s we’re looking for: Where are we today, who can lead us in the next three, five, 10 years?”

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