Sports
Why has Bill Belichick’s hiring at UNC sparked skepticism? Let’s examine the reasons
Bill Belichick has amassed 333 total coaching victories in the NFL, second only to the late Don Shula. He coached the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl victories and served as defensive coordinator on two Super Bowl-winning editions of the New York Giants. He possesses a genius-level knowledge of the NFL, not just in terms of X’s and O’s but also the A-B-C’s of the game’s rich history. And yet his pivot to college football — he was introduced Thursday as the new head coach at the University of North Carolina — has been met with varying degrees of skepticism, raised eyebrows and even outright hilarity.
Why, one may ask, is a coach who has accomplished so much being treated in such a negative light? Part of the problem is Belichick’s spectacularly stiff and grumpy public persona, but it’s much deeper than that. Let’s examine some of the reasons, real and imagined, why the mere mention of Belichick’s name inspires so many different reactions from people.
GO DEEPER
Feldman: No reason Belichick can’t have success at UNC. Just don’t expect him to last long
‘He never won anything without Tom Brady‘
It always begins here, does it not? Belichick is the greatest coach in football history if the accounting is limited to Super Bowl rings, but there’s always that nagging Tom Brady issue that raises two questions: 1) What has Belichick won without Brady, and 2) Has a Bradyless existence exposed Belichick’s inability to get the job done at this stage of his career?
Fact: Without getting too specific with the numbers, such as weaving in the games in which Jacoby Brissett and Jimmy Garoppolo were quarterbacking the Patriots in 2016 while Brady was sitting out his four-game “Deflategate” suspension, the big picture is that Belichick has won six Super Bowls with Brady as his quarterback and none without Brady as his quarterback.
Fact: Belichick didn’t win any Super Bowls during the five seasons he coached the original Cleveland Browns. He didn’t win one in his first year in New England when Brady was a rookie whose sole appearance was a Thanksgiving Day cameo against the Detroit Lions. He didn’t win one in the four post-Brady seasons in New England.
But at the risk of getting too lawyerly, what’s also true is that Belichick and Brady, as a coach-quarterback tandem, combined to win six Super Bowls. That’s an inconvenient truth to hardened Belichick bashers, but to remove it from the discussion is to assume Brady would have quarterbacked the Patriots to six Super Bowl victories regardless of the coach. Those types of alternate historical timelines are fun in the “Back to the Future” movies but don’t work here in the real world.
Cheating controversies
There’s really no getting around this one. In 2007, Belichick and the Patriots organization were disciplined by the NFL after it had been determined they videotaped signals by New York Jets defensive coaches during New England’s season-opening 38-14 victory at Giants Stadium.
The Patriots were fined $250,000 and lost their first-round pick in the 2008 draft. Belichick was fined $500,000. It was this “Spygate” scandal that resulted in Belichick being branded as “Beli-cheat,” a nickname his critics are happy to break out of mothballs whenever they’re in the mood.
Years later, the Patriots were embroiled in another cheating controversy when Brady was investigated for allegedly using underinflated footballs in New England’s 45-7 victory over the Indianapolis Colts in the 2014 AFC Championship Game. The NFL’s investigation, which dragged on in the courts for well over a year before Brady was finally suspended for the first four games of the 2016 season, was widely criticized as a colossal overreach by the NFL. And, anyway, Belichick was never implicated.
But Spygate often gets twinned up with Deflategate in any discussion of the Belichick era in New England, as is former San Diego Chargers running back LaDainian Tomlinson’s blistering 2007 observation that, “I think the Patriots actually live by the saying, ‘If you’re not cheatin’, you’re not trying.’ You keep hearing the different stories of people complaining about stuff that they do. So I’m not surprised.”
Spygate was a cheap stunt by Belichick that apparently didn’t yield much information. He deserves to wear this one. And not to pile on with Deflategate, but Belichick has long been cheered as the ultimate micromanager and a master of attending to every last teeny-weeny detail. If his supporters want to enter these talking points into the discussion, his critics should be granted license to say, “OK, then he should have known somebody was goofing with the footballs.”
The Kraftmatic Adjustable Storyline
Following the 2023 season, during which New England went 4-13, Belichick was fired by Patriots owner Robert Kraft, thus ending one of the greatest coaching runs in NFL history. Only it wasn’t portrayed as a “firing” by Kraft. Instead, it was presented as a “mutual parting of ways,” with the two men appearing together at a Gillette Stadium news conference and fumbling through one of the most awkward hugs in sports history.
“The man standing to my left brought the leadership and coaching skills that were needed to make the type of unprecedented success that we have had possible,” Kraft said that day. “Coach Belichick will forever be celebrated as a legendary sports icon here in New England and I believe go in as a Pro Football Hall of Famer on the first ballot. Why? Because he is the greatest coach of all time.”
Yet Kraft had less flattering things to say about his former coach in “The Dynasty,” the 10-part TV docuseries that aired in early 2024. Among them, Kraft used the occasion to dish that he called Belichick a “schmuck” in the aftermath of the Spygate scandal. The quote had been reported years earlier, but only by source; here now was Kraft speaking the word on camera and feeling quite comfortable doing so. It wasn’t like some off-camera interviewer lured Kraft into a trap.
Belichick didn’t come out of “The Dynasty” looking good. But it may have backfired on Kraft, who in 2024 was again denied his dream of being elected to the Pro Football Hall of Fame.
Meet the new coach, same as the very old coach
Belichick, who turns 73 on April 16, will be the oldest active coach in college football in 2025. But he was already being dismissed as too old and out of touch during his last few seasons in New England, at a time when the NFL was beginning to look to much younger coaches to run their teams. Sean McVay is a prime example: He was just 31 in his first season as head coach of the Los Angeles Rams in 2017, and 35 when he coached the ’21 Rams toward a 23-20 victory over the Cincinnati Bengals in Super Bowl LVI.
Mike Felger, the longtime afternoon drive host at Boston’s 98.5 The Sports Hub, often makes reference to “tight-pants coaches” — younger, well-built coaches who are steeped in analytics and are believed to have the sensibilities to relate with modern players. But to dismiss Belichick solely because of his age is to ignore a trend in the modern American workforce, says Debra Whitman, executive vice president and chief policy officer at AARP.
“The share of workers over age 75 is the only part of our (American) labor force that’s predicted to grow,” Whitman said. “People want to work, or they need to work — they either need the money or they love to work.” (In Belichick’s case, it’s the love of the work. He certainly doesn’t need the money.)
Whitman, author of “The Second Fifty: Answers to the 7 Big Questions of Midlife and Beyond,” believes there’s a “huge value to society in keeping people who have lots of experience and knowledge engaged.”
According to Whitman, research by the Organization of Economic Development and Cooperation has shown that a multi-generational workforce “actually makes a workplace more productive.”
GO DEEPER
What do top prospects and high school coaches think about the Bill Belichick hire?
They may not talk about it on ‘Inside the NFL,’ but he’s not popular inside the NFL
As reported by The Athletic’s Jeff Howe, one of the reasons Belichick hasn’t been offered a head-coaching job in the NFL since leaving the Patriots is, in the words of a high-ranking team executive, “(Belichick) burned a lot of bridges over his career.”
If so, it’s not just Spygate that ruffled feathers in the NFL. Cheating scandals happen all the time in professional sports, whereupon fines and suspensions are levied, but there are usually avenues for redemption. Consider what happened in MLB after manager A.J. Hinch and bench coach Alex Cora were suspended for a year following a sign-stealing scandal involving the 2017 Houston Astros. Hinch was later hired as manager of the Detroit Tigers. Cora, who had moved on to Boston and managed the Red Sox to a World Series championship in 2018, was fired by the club after the 2019 season, sat out 2020 and was rehired for 2021.
Bill Belichick isn’t exactly Joe College
The lede to a column by The Athletic’s Stewart Mandel on Belichick landing the UNC job minces no words: “Congratulations, North Carolina. You managed to hire someone completely unqualified to be your next football coach. You did that thing so many schools do where they try to win the press conference instead of win football games. It rarely works.”
Belichick has never coached college football at any level, under any title. Yes, his father, the late Steve Belichick, had a long and storied career as an assistant college coach, mostly at the United States Naval Academy. Yes, Belichick’s son, also named Steve, is the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington. And, yes, Bill Belichick made some visits to Washington practices last spring.
None of that adds up to actual college coaching experience, even if Belichick went to extraordinary lengths at his introductory news conference to make it appear this is where he’s wanted to be all along.
“I always wanted to coach in college football,” Belichick said. “It just never really worked out. I had some good years in the NFL, so that was OK. This is really kind of a dream come true.”
That’s a hard one to get behind, but we’ll play along. Can it work? We posed the question to former Patriots running back Kevin Faulk, who played under Belichick for 13 seasons, including three Super Bowl championship teams.
“Bill will figure it out,” Faulk said. “When he’s dealing with football, he’s all in.”
And yet even Faulk felt the need to wave a warning flag.
“The kids are not what they used to be,” Faulk said. “I feel like there’s some real difficulty he’s going to have to go through.”
A new era for @UNCFootball.
Bill Belichick talks to @MartySmithESPN about his decision to come to North Carolina 🐏 pic.twitter.com/PKZ8Okadub
— ACC Network (@accnetwork) December 13, 2024
Belichick hates the media
Make no mistake: Belichick has never enjoyed his sessions with the media, and over the years he developed a talent for sidestepping even basic questions. “We did what was best for the team,” he’d often say.
But it was never Belichick’s style to be bombastic or confrontational. He’d sometimes roll out a childish staredown when confronted with an unwanted line of questioning, but these attempts came across as comical, not menacing. He could even be funny once every four or five years, such as when he dropped in a reference to the Mona Lisa Vito character from the film “My Cousin Vinny” during the Deflategate saga.
Based on a random tour of the coverage of Belichick this week, the harsh stuff is coming from outside New England. But while Belichick’s sullen news conference performances never did him any harm back in the day — such as when the Patriots were competing for Super Bowls every year — he’ll be wise to freshen up the act at Chapel Hill.
Nothing says “old man yelling at a cloud” like being sullen with the 19-year-old kid from the college paper.
(Photo of Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft: Maddie Meyer / Getty Images)
More on Belichick
Why Bill Belichick abandoned hope of landing NFL job, pursuit of wins record
Why is Bill Belichick heading to North Carolina? It’s all about control
Has Bill Belichick closed the door on NFL victories record? There’s still time to evaluate
For UNC, hiring Bill Belichick was a risk it couldn’t afford not to take
Sports
Cedric Alexander becomes new TNA X Division champion, crushing Leon Slater’s history-making attempt
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
All eyes were on the Total Nonstop Action Wrestling (TNA) X Division Championship on Thursday night as Leon Slater looked to retain the title over Cedric Alexander and solidify himself as the longest-reigning X Division champion in the company’s history.
Slater knew a legacy was on the line as he looked to break a record set by Austin Aries. But he needed to pin Alexander twice in one match to retain the title. It was a steep mountain to climb as Alexander had been just as dangerous since he entered the company.
The match started off hot with Slater and Alexander trading blows to begin the match. But a quick-thinking Slater rolled up Alexander quickly for the first fall.
Cedric Alexander in the ring during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 23, 2025. (Bradlee Rutledge/WWE)
Alexander was able to go on offense from there. He hit a nasty German suplex on the outside of the ring. He continued to work on Slater’s tweaked neck. He later hit a Lumbar Check to tie the match at 1-1.
Slater went deep into his bag. He hit an avalanche Styles Clash, which could have kept anyone else down. However, Alexander kicked out. Alexander was able to counter Slater’s high-flying abilities just for a moment and knocked him back out of the ring.
Alexander sent Slater into the steel steps, leaving him busted open. Alexander declared that he would be the “greatest” X Division champion. One brainbuster later, Alexander tried to pin Slater, but couldn’t get him down.
Alexander hit a Lumbar Check again, but Slater kicked out. Slater mustered up the last ounce of energy. A tilt-a-whirl slam set Alexander up for a swanton 450. Slater missed and Alexander hit another Lumbar Check, and then again.
Leon Slater enters the arena during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Jan. 6, 2026. (Craig Melvin/WWE)
Alexander pinned Slater for the win, completely shocking the fans in Sacramento, California. It will be the first reign for Alexander and his first title of any kind in TNA.
Alexander is a reminder, at least for TNA, that “The System always wins.”
ZERO BS. JUST DAKICH. TAKE THE DON’T @ ME PODCAST ON THE ROAD. DOWNLOAD NOW!
Fabian Aichner appears
Fabian Aichner, formerly known as Giovanni Vinci, makes his way to the ring during WWE SmackDown at Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, Calif., on Sept. 20, 2024. (WWE/Getty Images)
Moments before TNA went off the air, the lights went out in the Sacramento Memorial Auditorium. Emerging from the darkness was Fabian Aichner.
Aichner stared down Alexander and appeared to name himself the next challenger for the X Division Championship. Aichner, known as Giovanni Vinci for much of his run in WWE, hadn’t really been seen or heard from in months since his departure from WWE.
Aichner wrestled under his real name for a stint in WWE before he came back as Vinci in June 22. He was with WWE until 2025. He was a two-time NXT tag team champion and an Evolve champion before it became a WWE brand.
Eric Young earns future shot at TNA World Championship
Eric Young outlasted nine other men in an over-the-top battle royal and earned a shot at Mike Santana’s TNA World Championship to start the show.
The match came down to him and Elijah after the latter was able to toss members of The System out of the ring while also avoiding Frankie Kazarian trying to get back into the match following his own elimination.
Young and Elijah came to blows on the apron, knowing that as soon as their feet touch the ground, they would be eliminated. Young grabbed onto Elijah’s hair to try to hang onto the moment. Elijah broke away with Young’s back turned to him. Elijah, however, didn’t account for his wide stance.
The TNA original kicked Elijah in the groin and pushed him down to the ground. Young won the match and received a shot to win the TNA World Championship in the future.
He also made clear that Santana was next on his list of people to wipe out as he did to Joe Hendry, EC3 and Ricky Sosa in weeks past.
“Mike Santana, you’re gone next,” he declared.
Mike Santana learns his next opponent
Mike Santana stands in the ring during NXT at the WWE Performance Center in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 30, 2025. (Kevin Sabitus/WWE)
Mike Santana came out to address the crowd and praised Young for his efforts to help build TNA from the ground up.
“You better be coming with something different because while you may be someone who helped build this place, when it comes to the new era of TNA on AMC, I’m the guy. I’m the man. I’m the one who holds down the fort week after week as your TNA world champion.”
While Young might have earned a title shot, Daria Rae came out and revealed to the crowd that Steve Maclin was cleared to return to action following an injury at the hands of Santana.
Maclin will get a shot at Santana’s TNA World Championship next week on “Impact.”
Santino Marella also came out during the segment after he was “suspended.” He revealed that Indi Harwell re-signed with TNA.
Lei Ying Lee, Xia Brookside rivalry heats up
Xia Brookside attends the “Freelance” screening at Regal Waterford Lakes in Orlando, Fla., on Oct. 24, 2023. (Jose Devillegas/Getty Images)
Lei Ying Lee brought the TNA Knockouts Championship back home last week with a win over Arianna Grace. She addressed the crowd before being interrupted by her former best friend, Xia Brookside.
In all black, Brookside claimed she was already in Lei’s head.
“You’re such a fraud. I’ve destroyed you mentally, I’ve destroyed you emotionally, I’ve destroyed you physically, and that title will be around my waist.”
Both competitors tossed expletives at each other before the segment was over. But Brookside made clear that she had her eyes on the title.
AJ Francis prevails over KC Navarro
A.J. Francis told Fox News Digital before the SacTown Street Fight on “Impact” that he was going to bring the pain to Navarro.
While wearing “Show Stealer” across his back, Francis did just that. Francis took some punishment from Navarro – a few shots from a baseball bat and a drop kick with a trash can.
Francis was able to turn the tide for a few moments, using the baseball bat to his advantage. But Navarro dug deep. He aligned six chairs in the ring, hoping to splash Francis through it. Instead, Francis countered and attempted an avalanche Down Payment. Somehow, Navarro countered with a cutter as both men crashed through the sea of chairs.
It looked like it could’ve been it. Navarro went for the pin, but only got a two count.
Francis turned on the heat from there. He got ahold of Navarro and hit a Down Payment through tables lined up on the outside of the ring.
He rolled Navarro back into the ring and picked up the pinfall victory.
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Impact” match results
- Eric Young wins the 10-man battle royal to earn a shot at the TNA World Championship.
- A.J. Francis def. KC Navarro in a SacTown Street Fight.
- Rosemary and Allie def. Veronica Crawford and Mila Moore
- Cedric Alexander def. Leon Slater to win the X Division Championship.
The carriage has turned back into a pumpkin, the ballgown is once again just tattered clothing and all the horses have gone back to being mice.
The Ducks’ Cinderella run through the NHL playoffs came to an end Thursday in a 5-1 loss to the Vegas Golden Knights in Game 6 of their second-round Stanley Cup playoff series. And the end came well before midnight, with goals by Mitch Marner and Brett Howden in the first 8½ minutes giving Vegas a commanding lead before many in the late-arriving weeknight crowd had made it to their seats at the Honda Center.
The Golden Knights will move on to the Western Conference finals with the Colorado Avalanche next week while the Ducks will move on to summer. But it’s the team’s latest start on the offseason since 2017, the last time the Ducks made it to the second round of the playoffs. So even if the glass slipper didn’t fit this time, the Ducks have reason to celebrate.
This team, after all, wasn’t supposed to be at the ball this long. Fourteen players on its roster had never been to the postseason before; most of them had never even played for a winning team in the NHL before. But the team’s youth and inexperience proved to be a strength, not a weakness.
Ducks center Leo Carlsson passes the puck as Vegas’ Shea Theodore defends during the second period.
(Allen J. Schaben/Los Angeles Times)
They didn’t know they weren’t supposed to win in the playoffs, so they did, dispatching the Edmonton Oilers — who made the last two Stanley Cup finals — in the first round and outplaying the veteran Golden Knights, a playoff team in eight of the franchise’s nine seasons, throughout much of the second round.
Rookie Beckett Sennecke, just 20, had four goals and an assist in the six games with Vegas. Winger Cutter Gauthier, just 22, led the team with 12 points in his first trip to the playoffs. Defenseman Olen Zellwenger, also 22, had a goal and assist in his first two playoff games and Olympic gold medalist Jackson LaCombe, 25, led the team in ice time — and was third in points with 10 — in his first postseason.
That’s the core of the team going forward and the playoff experience they got this spring will be invaluable. But the fairy godmother’s spell wore off early in Game 6, which was just 62 seconds old when Vegas went ahead to stay.
Marner opened the scoring with a spectacular breakaway goal, skating on to William Karlssson’s two-line pass as he entered the offensive zone and beating LaCombe up the center of the ice to the crease. When he got there, he pulled up, turned his back to goalie Lukas Dostal, then shoved the puck just inside the right post for his seventh goal of the playoffs.
Howden doubled the lead with a shorthanded goal 7½ minutes later, finding miles of space just to the right of the goal and banging in a pass from Marner that split LaCombe and Alex Killorn. The goal was Howden’s eighth of the playoffs, temporarily giving him the NHL postseason lead, while the assist gave Marner 18 postseason points, also best in the league.
When Shea Theodore scored off a faceoff seconds into a power play late in the period, it gave the Golden Knights a 3-0 lead at the intermission with the goals coming on a power play, the penalty kill and with the teams at even strength.
Ducks left wing Alex Killorn moves the puck ahead of Vegas right wing Keegan Kolesar in the first period.
(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times)
The Ducks led the NHL with 26 comeback wins during the regular season, but against the poised and patient Golden Knights the deficit was too big. The Ducks left the ice to a chorus of boos after the period, though they came back to dominate the second period, getting the only score at 12:46 when Mikael Granlund notched his fifth goal of the playoffs on a power play, lining a snap shot into the side netting from the middle the left circle.
But the Ducks would get no closer, with Vegas icing the game on two third-period goals from Pavel Dorofeyev, who had four goals in the final two games. The first came off a turnover from the Ducks’ John Carlson deep in his defensive end 2:52 into the final period and the second on a shot from a difficult angle to the right of the goal that ricocheted in off Dostal with 6:28 left in the Ducks’ season.
The two scores gave Dorofeyev nine for the playoffs, passing Howden for the league lead.
NEWYou can now listen to Fox News articles!
Drake’s long-awaited album, “Iceman,” the ninth of his illustrious career, comes out Friday, but fans were given an apparent sneak peek late Wednesday night into Thursday morning.
Overnight, an apparent song from the album was leaked on social media, which is rumored to be titled “1AM in Albany,” a series of songs by Drake storytelling during specific hours of certain cities that began with “9AM in Dallas” in 2009.
The song features some thinly veiled hits at Kendrick Lamar following their feud from 2024 into last year, but fans were taken aback at some apparent shots at LeBron James.
Drake and LeBron James talk after the NBA game between the Toronto Raptors and the Los Angeles Lakers at Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on March 18, 2022. (Cole Burston/Getty Images)
James and Drake were once very good friends, with James even taking the stage during one of Drake’s concerts years ago. However, James began to show some loyalty to Lamar during the famed rap beef that found its way to Lamar’s Super Bowl halftime show performance.
“I shouldn’t even be shocked to see you in that arena, because you always made your career off of switching teams up,” Drake rapped. James went from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat, back to the Cavs to the Los Angeles Lakers and is set to be an unrestricted free agent this summer.
Singer Drake talks to LeBron James of the Cleveland Cavaliers during an NBA game against the Toronto Raptors at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto on Nov. 25, 2015. (Vaughn Ridley/Getty Images)
CHARLES BARKLEY ADMONISHES SOCIETY FOR BEING HOMOPHOBIC IN VIRTUE-SIGNALING RANT ABOUT JASON COLLINS’ DEATH
In a double entendre, Drake also implored his fans to “please stop asking what’s going on with 23 and me. I’m a real n—-, and he’s not, it’s in my DNA,” a play on words from the website “23andMe.”
Drake and James have linked up numerous times, but if this song is legitimate, and the bars are aimed at James, those times may be long over.
LeBron James and Drake attend the Drake and LeBron James pool party in Toronto for Caribana on Aug. 5, 2017. (Johnny Nunez/Getty Images for Remy Martin)
CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD THE FOX NEWS APP
“Iceman” will be Drake’s first solo album since he released “For All The Dogs” in October 2023. His first album was “Thank Me Later” back in 2010, and he followed up with classics in “Take Care” in 2011 and “Nothing Was The Same” two years later.
Follow Fox News Digital’s sports coverage on X, and subscribe to the Fox News Sports Huddle newsletter.
-
World2 minutes agoSpanish row fuels north–south tensions ahead of tough EU budget talks
-
News32 minutes agoWoman killed in Atlanta Beltline stabbing identified
-
New York2 hours agoQuestions Arise About Jack Schlossberg’s Readiness for Congress
-
Los Angeles, Ca2 hours agoLos Angeles releases searchable list of worst rental properties
-
Detroit, MI3 hours agoMLB News & Moments: Mets Gain Much-Needed Momentum by Sweeping Detroit
-
San Francisco, CA3 hours agoWhere to Find Free Street Parking for Shows in San Francisco | KQED
-
Dallas, TX3 hours agoDallas Stars Forward Would Be Perfect Trade Target for NY Rangers
-
Boston, MA3 hours agoJetBlue to pull out of N.H.’s largest airport amid capacity crisis, officials announce – The Boston Globe