The old North Carolina coach sees no reason why the new North Carolina coach can’t win.
Mack Brown alleged that his former employer has set up Bill Belichick for success by upping their NIL package and lowering the academic requirements for his upcoming first season.
The one-time national champion added that he’s expecting a big season and is “proud” for Belichick.
“As far as North Carolina and Bill Belichick now, he’s arguably the best coach ever,” Brown said on SiriusXM radio. “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’ve signed maybe 60-something 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.”
North Carolina fired Brown in November, despite having three years left on his contract, with the team wanting to start fresh after the Tar Heels seemed mired in mediocrity.
Brown led the team to a 44-33 record in his last six seasons, his second stint with the team, which included a 6-6 record this past year.
UNC then made the splashy hire by bringing in Belichick, offering him a five-year, $10 million deal that came with plenty of perks.
The Tar Heels’ offer included a boost in their NIL package from $4 million to $20 million, USA Today reported in December.
Brown’s tenure started before the NIL era began, but he indicated North Carolina did not step up to the plate like other power conferences once the legislation came into effect.
“It was time for me. North Carolina didn’t have NIL money and I said we were kind of a slow bleed,” Brown said Tuesday afternoon on the program. “We weren’t able to recruit the top kids like we were when we first got there. It was time for them and it was time for me, kind of like a divorce. Everybody was ready. It’s just who and how and how you split at the end. It was best for me to get out.
“We always built programs on fit, and our last couple years there we were having to get parents with money, we were trying to get kids over a 3.0 because that’s who we could get. We signed 26 players at North Carolina our next-to-last year – high school players – and didn’t pay them a penny. So those kids, we even had Omarion Hampton, he got offered $1 million-plus to leave and he stayed for $300,000. I told him he should leave, because it was just crazy as you were looking at those things.”
Belichick and North Carolina begin their season Sept. 1 at home against TCU, and they have a home date Oct. 4 vs. Clemson and a road contest on Halloween at Syracuse.
