UNC announces Bill Belichick will buck major trend as head coach

Billy Heyen

UNC announces Bill Belichick will buck major trend as head coach image

In no major surprise, Bill Belichick plans to do things his way.

But in his new gig as North Carolina's head football coach, that means doing things differently than many college football coaches.

Belichick won't make weekly appearances on the Tar Heels' weekly radio show, which is out of the ordinary in college football. The school announced the news Thursday.

On Aug. 27, Belichick will appear on the first episode, but from then on, it'll be program general manager Michael Lombardi on the show. In its previous iteration, the show was known as Mack Brown Live, but now it'll be called Carolina Football Live.

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The Athletic's Chris Vannini provided further context:

"While the coach’s weekly radio show is still common across college football, the opportunity for fans to call in and ask live questions has started to disappear over the years. Nick Saban was a rare high-profile coach who continued to take live calls until he retired in 2024. Many schools have removed that opportunity, either because of losses or a coach getting upset with a caller. After a spat with 'Tyler from Spartanburg' in 2023, Clemson ended live calls for coach Dabo Swinney. The show now takes questions via text message."

Vannini adds that some college coaches even have their weekly radio appearances written in as part of their contract.

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After a long offseason of Belichick headlines, the football is finally almost here.

UNC opens the season against TCU on Sept. 1, which is a Monday, so everyone will be watching.

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Billy Heyen

Billy Heyen is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He is a 2019 graduate of Syracuse University who has written about many sports and fantasy sports for The Sporting News. Sports reporting work has also appeared in a number of newspapers, including the Sandusky Register and Rochester Democrat & Chronicle