The most excited Tar Heel in the country may just be LT.
In an X post detailing a string of texts he shared with Giants legend Lawrence Taylor after news broke Wednesday that Bill Belichick, 72, was finalizing a five-year head coaching contract with UNC, sports journalist Gary Myers says the Hall of Fame linebacker told him he “absolutely” liked the move.
“UNC stock has just gone up!!!” wrote Taylor, who earned All-American honors during his tenure at North Carolina and played under Bill Belichick from 1981-1990 when he was the linebackers coach and defensive coordinator for the Giants, the duo teaming up for two Super Bowl titles.
Asked if he and Belichick had talked about Belichick’s consideration of the job, Taylor responded, “That’s all we been doing the last couple of days.”
In a second post just a few minutes later, Myers raised his surprise that Belichick was making a move to the college game given that he’s within reach of passing Don Shula as the winningest head coach in NFL history.
“Got nothing to do with that,” Taylor responded.
As head coach of the Tar Heels, Belichick will be taking over the vacancy left by Mack Brown, who was told by university administrators that he would not be returning beyond the 2024 season in ugly fashion less than two weeks ago.
These are large shoes to fill — Brown is the winningest head coach in Tar Heel football history and regarded as one of, if not the program’s most venerated.
For Belichick, success isn’t guaranteed, though the ex-NFLer certainly has the prowess to challenge Brown’s record and honorific.
Over 29 seasons coaching the Cleveland Browns and then the New England Patriots, Belichick amassed a 302-165 record (.647 win percentage) in the regular season and a 31-13 mark (.705 win percentage) in postseason play.
His 31 playoff victories are the most for any head coach in NFL history, as are his six Super Bowl titles. Belichick currently sits third on the all-time wins list behind Shula (328) and George Halas (318).
In addition to his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, Belichick is bringing with him to Chapel Hill longtime pal and ex-NFL executive Michael Lombardi.
Lombardi will become the general manager of the University of North Carolina’s football program.