‘I Don’t Think UNC Will Win the National Championship’: Urban Meyer Offers Initial Thoughts on Bill Belichick’s Move to College

Ever since Bill Belichick announced his surprising move to North Carolina, expectations for UNC to win the CFP Championship next season are now running high. However, Urban Meyer finds it to be an outlandish thought.

In the latest episode of The Triple Option, the legendary CFB coach urged the NFL world to keep their expectations in check for Belichick’s debut season with UNC. Meyer candidly clarified that he doesn’t see UNC being a National Championship contender under the former Patriots tactician anytime soon. What he does expect the Tar Heels to do under Bill is win the ACC Conference.

“Is there a chance they can win a national championship? I don’t think they’ll do that. Is it to go compete for a playoff and win the ACC? Yeah!” he said.

In Meyer’s eyes, winning the ACC Conference must be the bare minimum for Bill. That’s what you expect from a coach being paid a whopping $10 million a year. Moreover, with the ACC competition being relatively weak, Meyer believes that investing some NIL money in prospects can secure them a conference win. And, with it, a playoff berth.

“The conference is very average right now, and you’re paying a guy ten million a year. You just want 20 million Ohio State type level NIL money. So you’re damn right, you better be in a playoff.”

Another reason why Urban Meyer believed it would be easy for Bill Belichick to win the conference really quickly is due to the reduced workload that has come from the newer model of transfer portal, scouts, and accessibility.

Meyer noted that had it been like the days when coaches had to leave at 7 AM, go to multiple schools, meet with recruits’ parents, practice, fly home for weekends, and practice for bowl games, Belichick at the age of 72 would have really struggled to adapt.

“I guess he would have struggled in the old model… on the road from 7 AM, you go to 3 high schools, you’d meet with the players, you’d meet with the families, you go to basketball practice or a basketball game, a couple home visits, you crawl in bed at 10 and you’re doing it again. You’re doing that for three weeks and then on the weekends you fly home.”

All that said, what surprised Urban the most about Bill’s UNC move, was his drive to keep the work going. Considering Urban is 60 himself, the former Jaguars coach wondered why and how Bill, at the age of 72, has the vigor to take up a coaching gig. “Coach, go enjoy your life,” said Urban jokingly.

Just like the debate on the position Travis Hunter should play in the NFL, the discussion around Bill Belichick’s experience in CFB has also been polarizing. Safe to say, we NFL fans have a lot to look forward to next year.