“I Know Exactly How Bill Feels”: Nick Saban Sympathises With Bill Belichick Claiming He Had the Same Experience

Bill Belichick made a big splash by heading to the college ranks instead of pushing for another NFL job after his dismissal from the New England Patriots in 2023. While he surely knew he’d have a big job ahead with the University of North Carolina, a school generally known for basketball, there’s no way he could have expected the start he got last week.

Belichick’s Tar Heels were walloped 48-14 by TCU at home in Week 1. The 34-point loss was worse than anything Belichick had experienced in his first 23 years with the Pats, though he did suffer a 34-point and a 35-point loss in that final season in 2023. Believe it or not, however, there’s still a good omen floating over him.

Arguably the greatest college coach ever, Nick Saban, is now a pundit for ESPN’s college football coverage, and he went to bat for his old comrade on Saturday.

Saban served as Belichick’s defensive coordinator from 1991-1994 when Belichick was the head coach of the Cleveland Browns, so the pair are close. And having gone through his own notoriously unsuccessful run in the NFL, Saban says he knows exactly how Belichick is feeling right now.

“I know exactly how Bill feels. Because I went through a very similar situation, at the Cleveland Browns, we go to Michigan State, and the first team we play against is Nebraska. And they just came off of winning a National Championship… So we go in this game, and we get beat like 56-7,” the former head coach recalled.

“And I’m on the sidelines saying, ‘We may never win a game here!’ We’re horrible! I mean, we couldn’t tackle anybody. It was awful,” he added.

Saban’s memory is pretty darn good. That game 30 years ago, just Saban’s second ever year as a head coach (he was Toledo’s HC in 1990), was a 50-10 loss to Nebraska. He led them for five seasons, the final of which was a 10-2 season where they were ranked No. 7 in the nation. After that, Saban moved on to LSU for another five-year tenure that included a National Championship.

The rest is history, as he went on to coach Alabama after an uneven two-year tenure with the Miami Dolphins in 2005-2006, creating a dynasty in Tuscaloosa that will be tough to match. And that’s all, despite getting absolutely embarrassed in that first game back in 1995.

Belichick will be able to take solace in that. As Saban said, after his big loss, the opposing coach told him that he wasn’t nearly as bad as he thought. And boy, was he right.

Belichick and UNC will hope that their trajectory mirrors Saban’s after taking over at Michigan State. The Tar Heels get their first chance to change the narrative on Saturday with a matchup against lowly Charlotte.