NFL legend Bill Belichick sent shockwaves across the internet after he announced he was set to take up the North Carolina Tar Heels coaching job in 2025. Fans and experts were dumbfounded about his decision because no one expected Belichick to make a transition to college after he parted ways with the New England Patriots in January 2024.
Texas Longhorns head coach Steve Sarkisian recently opened up about his reaction to the news and mentioned that he was more than happy to welcome Belichick into college athletics.
Steve Sarkisian Was Surprised by Bill Belichick’s College Move
After 50 years in the NFL, the eight-time Super Bowl champ will now take charge of the Tar Heels. Fans in Chapel Hill, N.C., couldn’t be more excited to have such a legend at the helm.
While speaking to Kay Adams on “Up & Adams,” the Texas coach opened up on hearing the news. He joked that it was more exciting than learning of Luka Dončić’s trade to the Los Angeles Lakers, as Sarkisian is a big-time Lakers fan himself.
“I think it talks a little bit about college football and where we’re at,” Sarkisian said about the current landscape of college athletics.
“Chip Kelly goes to be an assistant coach with Ryan Day; now he’s in the NFL. Bill Belichick’s now coaching college football and Matt Patricia is now a defensive coordinator at Ohio State. Just the idea and the thought behind where college football is today is pretty exciting. Here, one of the greatest, if not the greatest, of all time is coaching our game now because he sees the value in it is pretty cool,” he added.
Coming into college, Belichick doesn’t seem to have forgotten his rich legacy since this would be a new beginning for him in an entirely new environment. He has already begun with high school recruitment and strategizing transfer portal moves after orchestrating a massive revamp in the coaching roster.
This offseason, Sarkisian also caught national attention for a potential NFL coaching role. however, Sarkisian says he is more than happy to be where he is now. A major transformation is going on under his leadership.
Despite coming into a new conference in 2024 (SEC), the Longhorns have been making strides and managed to reach the College Football Playoffs for the second season in a row. Next season, Peyton Manning’s nephew, Arch Manning, will be the QB1 for Texas as Quinn Ewers leaves for the 2025 NFL Draft.