Bill Belichick has many political friends, and according to an ESPN report, he used them to get the head coaching position at North Carolina.
The longtime Patriots head coach and future Hall of Famer could not find a gig in the pros after the 2023 season and eventually turned his eyes to the college football gridiron. At the University of North Carolina, the job opening left by the recently fired Mack Brown seemed appealing to Belichick, and he publicly expressed interest in the position.
We didn’t know then, and what ESPN reports now is that Belichick didn’t just publicly express interest in the gig. Behind the scenes, he also reportedly contacted his friend, then-Secretary of State nominee Marco Rubio, to help him land the job.
How did Rubio – a Florida grad – accomplish that? He did so, reportedly, by reaching out to his friend, North Carolina Senator Thom Tillis (R).
“Belichick first sent word of his interest in the UNC job through political allies,” ESPN reported. “He reached out to a longtime friend, then-Senator Marco Rubio of Florida, who then contacted Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina, hoping to light a fire in Chapel Hill in support of Belichick.
“Rubio follows the sports world pretty closely, and he called me and said, ‘There’s a chance Belichick would come to Chapel Hill,’ Tillis told ESPN. “He said, ‘He wants a school with a great academic reputation, and he wants to try to build a program to bring them a national championship. I said, ‘Well, let me go [make some calls].’
“Tillis hung up the phone and immediately called Phil Berger, the North Carolina Senate president pro tempore, who had strong connections with power players at UNC. Berger initially laughed at the suggestion until Tillis assured him that, yes, Belichick truly wanted the job.”
UNC publicly announced Belichick’s hire on December 12. Belichick has never mentioned receiving help from either Rubio or Tillis.
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