We’re living in truly strange times in that, at the end of the week, Bill Belichick interviewing for the head coaching job at the University of North Carolina barely registered on our personal Richter scales. Here we have one of the most successful professional football coaches of all time and the architect of one of the sport’s great dynasties speaking to folks in Chapel Hill about, sure, the best opening in college football at the moment, but, you know … a job in one of the weaker Power 5 conferences at a time when most college football coaches would jump for any opportunity in the NFL so as not to have to deal with the annoyances of NIL and the transfer portal.
In conversations with a few bright minds within the coaching industry this week, I tried to nail down why exactly this happened and what it might mean. Here are a few theories:
