What if Bill Belichick returns to coaching, but it's not in the NFL?
Apparently that is a possibility. The legendary former New England Patriots coach has reportedly interviewed for the head coaching job at the University of North Carolina, according to a report Thursday from Inside Carolina.
It would be surprising, to say the least, if Belichick decided to jump to the college ranks. He has never been a college coach -- head coach or assistant. It has widely been assumed that if Belichick were going to coach again, it would be in the NFL so he could pursue Don Shula's all-time wins record. Belichick is 26 regular-season wins behind Shula, and 14 total wins when counting playoffs.
North Carolina fired Mack Brown, who coached Patriots rookie quarterback Drake Maye in college, on Nov. 26.
The Patriots parted ways with Belichick after last season. Belichick did not land any coaching jobs in the offseason and instead pivoted to a variety of media jobs for this NFL season.
While Belichick has not coached at the college level, his father, Steve, was a longtime college assistant coach, including three years at UNC from 1953-55. That may help explain at least some of Belichick's reported interest in the job.