CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — In a stunning development that has progressed from implausible to an actuality, North Carolina is finalizing a contract to land Bill Belichick as its next football coach, Inside Carolina learned from multiple sources on Wednesday.

The NFL legend is regarded among the preeminent coaches in the history of the sport, if not at the top of the all-time greatest list. UNC’s Board of Trustees is working on putting together an emergency meeting to approve Belichick’s contract, according to sources (first reported by ABC11 WTVD). Pending approval from UNC’s Board of Trustees, he’ll replace the fired Mack Brown, who was dismissed 15 days ago by athletics director Bubba Cunningham. 

Only icons Don Shula and George Halas have piled up more coaching victories in the NFL than the 72-year-old Belichick, who has made more Super Bowl appearances (nine) and claimed more Super Bowl titles (six) than any head coach in the pages of NFL history. But he never has coached on the college level in any capacity, and he’s eight months younger than Brown.

Cunningham told Inside Carolina on Nov. 27, a day after firing the 73-year-old Brown, that creativity and adaptability would be key elements for whomever the Tar Heels chose as their next football coach. Talk about thinking independently and operating outside the box to reel in the NFL lifer Belichick, particularly in this era of NIL deals and transfer portal roster management, and eventual revenue sharing. Belichick (302 career victories) had been believed to be only interested in chasing Shula (328 career victories) for the NFL all-time wins record, prior to becoming perhaps the ultimate wild card in UNC’s search.

Across the last week, as IC first reported, sources said the UNC search committee’s initial interview with Belichick on the Zoom videoconferencing platform turned what some presumed to be merely a courtesy conversation into the full-on birth of his candidacy. His depth of preparation and detailed plans for winning big with the Tar Heels made a profound impact.

According to sources, UNC followed up on that Zoom interview by meeting with Belichick for an extended period last week on Thursday in New York City. Cunningham and new school chancellor Lee Roberts made that trip, per sources. UNC discussed contract structure and financial details with Belichick, according to sources, along with the potential length of his head-coaching tenure and his ideas for assembling a coaching staff. Belichick’s oldest son, Steve Belichick, is a defensive coordinator in the college ranks now at Washington. Brian Belichick, the youngest son, has remained in the NFL and is an assistant coach with the New England Patriots.

Carolina’s search process included discussions with Iowa State coach Matt Campbell, Tulane coach Jon Sumrall, Army coach Jeff Monken, NFL coaching veteran Steve Wilks, Georgia defensive coordinator Glenn Schumann and UNC interim coach Freddie Kitchens. Campbell, Sumrall, Monken and Schumann all coached in conference championship games during the weekend.

Cunningham was seated among the home crowd Saturday afternoon at the Smith Center, on hand for the Tar Heels’ victory against visiting Georgia Tech in men’s basketball. On Monday night, he was in nearby Cary, N.C., to cheer on the Carolina women’s soccer team, which defeated Wake Forest to capture the NCAA championship. By that juncture, sources said only Belichick remained in negotiations with the Tar Heels. Belichick was the the only candidate that UNC mentioned to players and recruits on Monday as a potential or expected outcome of the coaching search.

Maybe there’s a sentimental thread in play for Belichick here. His father, Steve Belichick, worked as an assistant football coach at UNC from 1953-55. Bill Belichick was born in April 1952, and a photo of him seated in the bleachers at Kenan Stadium as a young boy has made the rounds on television and the internet. Decades later, when he served as linebackers coach and then defensive coordinator under Bill Parcells for the New York Giants, Belichick coached sack master Lawrence Taylor, arguably the greatest defensive player UNC has ever produced.

“Mack has set us up to be really successful long term, with the investment in the facilities, the salaries, the endowment,” Cunningham told IC on Nov. 27. “All of those things have been great. So like any other job, and it’s cliché, I know it, but it’s fit. What do we need right now? We’ve had a Hall of Fame coach. He’s gotten us right to the precipice of being right at the top of the league.

“We’ve got NIL, we’ve got transfer portal. We have revenue sharing coming on. So what does this new look of college athletics look like? And who’s best to lead our coaches and our players to be successful? I know that’s cliché, but it’s true.”

The College Football Hall of Famer Brown made $5 million per year at UNC. His $2.8 million buyout will be paid quarterly through the terms of his contract, which ends on Jan. 15, 2028. He’s the winningest football coach in Carolina history and the longest-tenured at the school. He was the active wins leader nationally in college football with 288 career victories. Only legendary coaches Nick Saban, Joe Paterno, Bobby Bowden, Bear Bryant, Pop Warner and Amos Alonzo Stagg rank ahead of him on the FBS all-time wins list.

Brown spent 10 seasons in Chapel Hill, N.C., rebuilding the Tar Heels from 1988-97, before leaving for the Texas job, where his Longhorns reached college football’s mountaintop and claimed the 2005 national championship. He came out of retirement and returned to UNC in November 2018 at age 67, upon Cunningham’s personal request. Brown’s record spanning both stints with the Tar Heels is 113-79-1. His teams went 44-33 overall and 27-23 in the ACC league play across the six seasons (2019-24) that comprised his second stint on the job.

“I don’t know about who,” Cunningham told IC on Nov. 27, when asked about his inclinations on the proper head-coaching fit for the Tar Heels. “But you have to be creative, you have to be adaptable. You have to understand that the environment is different, if you’ve been in it a long time. Or if you’re just coming into a new environment, what is this new environment? What’s it look like?

“We talked about it with (men’s basketball coach) Hubert (Davis). We talked about it with (field hockey star turned coach) Erin Matson. We talked about it with Mack. It’s just different, and it’s not the same at every school. It’s not the same in every sport. But there’s more transitions. There’s more turnover in the coaching ranks and the players, and so you’re going to have to be comfortable with that. And recognize that it’s going to be three to five years where it’s still going to be uncertain. And can you live in that environment?”