Bill Belichick’s decision to take the North Carolina Tar Heels job came as a shock to many around the professional and college football world.

Belichick, at 72 and one of the most highly respected former NFL head coaches, has never coached at the collegiate level. He was an assistant with the Baltimore Colts in 1975 before eventually winning several Super Bowls with the New England Patriots and New York Giants.

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The decision to go to college at this juncture of his life and career left one of his former players, linebacker Tedy Bruschi, quizzical.

“What are we doing here? I mean, with Bill Belichick going to coach North Carolina. I mean, college football — there’s only one bowl game I want to see Bill Belichick coaching and that’s the Super Bowl, OK?” he said on ESPN’s “Sunday NFL Countdown.” “I don’t want to see him coaching some Lawnmower Bowl in December or January. That’s just not who I am.”

“I don’t know how there wouldn’t be any interest as to where you bring a Belichick in, and he makes you immediately relevant and well-coached by who he is,” Bruschi continued. “Would he make one of these teams that needed a head coach this year an immediate contender? I mean, yes, he would. He is that good. Now, he’s not going to be on the level of six championships New England Patriots or anything like that, but your team would be competent from the get-go; and then it’s on your players.

“I can’t believe Bill Belichick won’t be in the NFL next year. … I don’t know how this happened.”

New North Carolina head football coach Bill Belichick speaks to the crowd at the Dean Smith Center during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)

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New North Carolina head football coach Bill Belichick walks on the court of the Dean Smith Center during halftime of an NCAA college basketball game in Chapel Hill, N.C., Dec. 14, 2024. (AP Photo/Ben McKeown)

Belichick officially agreed to take the job last week despite checking in to see if there was interest from the New York Jets’ side about possibly coaching them, despite historical drama surrounding both parties.

Julian Edelman weighed in on the move and offered a sunnier taker.

“It’s the most surprising thing in the history of anything to me that the greatest NFL football coach is not going to be in the NFL,” the former wide receiver said on “FOX NFL Kickoff.” “The more I think about it, the more it makes sense.”

“A, projecting players: I was a quarterback in college, played receiver [in the NFL]. Tom Brady was a sixth-round draft pick, became the greatest quarterback of all time. Rob Gronkowski was a second-round pick, became the greatest tight end of all time. He knows how to project players.

“B, nostalgia: Bill’s dad coached at North Carolina … he loves anything his dad was a part of, so that makes sense. And then, three, [seeing] the ‘Hoodie’ in a [Michael] Jordan Tar Heel powder blue.”

Belichick is set to replace Mack Brown as head coach. The Tar Heels are 6-6 this year and play UConn in the Fenway Bowl. Freddie Kitchens will coach the team for the game.

Julian Edelman (Kathryn Riley/Getty Images/File)

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North Carolina has gone to six consecutive bowl games. They’ve had one 10-win season since 1998.

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Bill Belichick is looking to the NFL to fill out his coaching staff at North Carolina, targeting current Raiders interim offensive coordinator Scott Turner for the same position with the Tar Heels, according to NFL Media’s Ian Rapoport.

Turner is currently working at the position with the Raiders as an interim after head coach Antonio Pierce fired coordinator Luke Getsy, quarterbacks coach Rich Scangarello, and offensive line coach James Cregg recently.

Prior to taking his current position, Turner worked as the Raiders’ passing game coordinator, but as the team is 2-11 entering this week, it’s likely he’s looking for a new start elsewhere.

Turner is the son of long-time NFL coach Norv Turner, and worked as the Commanders’ offensive coordinator 2020-22 and has some collegiate experience at Oregon State, Pitt, and Michigan.

He worked as offensive assistant and wide receivers coach at Pittsburgh from 2008 to 2010 and worked under Jim Harbaugh at Michigan as an offensive analyst in 2017.

Belichick has already acquired some NFL coaching and managerial talent to his new staff.

Michael Lombardi joined the North Carolina program as general manager, and Freddie Kitchens has been named tight end coach and run game coordinator for the Tar Heels.

(Rapoport)

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Associated Press

Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets (10-0) at North Carolina Tar Heels (10-1)

Chapel Hill, North Carolina; Sunday, 2 p.m. EST

BOTTOM LINE: No. 14 North Carolina comes into a matchup with No. 25 Georgia Tech as winners of seven consecutive games.

The Tar Heels have gone 6-0 in home games. North Carolina ranks fourth in the ACC in rebounding averaging 37.7 rebounds. Alyssa Ustby leads the Tar Heels with 9.2 boards.

The Yellow Jackets have gone 1-0 away from home. Georgia Tech scores 81.9 points while outscoring opponents by 28.8 points per game.

North Carolina makes 43.7% of its shots from the field this season, which is 7.1 percentage points higher than Georgia Tech has allowed to its opponents (36.6%). Georgia Tech averages 32.4 more points per game (81.9) than North Carolina allows to opponents (49.5).

The Tar Heels and Yellow Jackets meet Sunday for the first time in ACC play this season.

TOP PERFORMERS: Ustby is averaging 11.6 points and 9.2 rebounds for the Tar Heels.

Dani Carnegie is scoring 13.9 points per game and averaging 4.6 rebounds for the Yellow Jackets.

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The Associated Press created this story using technology provided by Data Skrive and data from Sportradar.