North Carolina accused of lowering academic standards to help Bill Belichick succeed

Matthew Wadleigh

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North Carolina accused of lowering academic standards to help Bill Belichick succeed image

The North Carolina Tar Heels football program looks much different with Bill Belichick as the head coach. Mack Brown and North Carolina parted ways after the 2024 season, and Belichick was shockingly hired as the new coach despite never having a college coaching job before. 

While a lot of drama has been discussed about Belichick and his 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson, the excitement is real around the UNC football program once again. 

On Tuesday, former North Carolina coach Mack Brown weighed in on the Belichick hype and he mentioned things are changing drastically around Chapel Hill with Belichick in town. 

"At the time, North Carolina didn't have NIL money...We weren't able to recruit the top kids like we were when we first got there," Brown said. “As far as North Carolina and Bill Belichick now, he’s arguably the best coach ever. They’ve committed money to it, they’ve helped him with academics. They’ve lowered those standards some. So there’s absolutely no reason they shouldn’t be successful. And anymore, they’ve changed the roster. I think they signed maybe 60 new transfers. So you’ve got a chance to succeed at the highest level, and I expect him to do that and I’m proud for him.”

Brown said they recruited kids with 3.0 or higher GPAs but added it was difficult to compete from a financial perspective with some other top recruits. One name he mentioned was Omarion Hampton, who was offered more to play elsewhere but decided to stay at North Carolina and ended up being a first-round pick by the Los Angeles Chargers. 

But, as Brown said, North Carolina has invested money and even lowered academic standards with Belichick in town and hopes of revamping this program and bringing it back to national relevancy. 

It's an interesting insight from Brown, who spent plenty of time in Chapel Hill as the head coach. 

North Carolina is set to pay Belichick an average of $10 million per year, which is a large amount for somebody who has never been in the college game before. But the fact hthat e has six Super Bowl rings and is a household name already draws interest from recruits, transfers, and the media, so it seems to be a gamble North Carolina is willing to take. 

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Matthew Wadleigh

Matthew Wadleigh is a freelance writer with The Sporting News. He was born and raised in Southern California and grew up a San Diego sports fan (yes, it’s tough, except for Aztecs hoops). Matthew went to Fresno State as a journalism major and got to see Davante Adams, Derek Carr, Paul George and Aaron Judge in person. Matthew has written for publications including ClutchPoints, Sportscasting, Fansided, Trojans Wire, UCLA Wire and Buffaloes Wire.