New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft & Co. are trying to right the ship following a second consecutive 4-13 season.
But Patriots legend Bill Belichick has other ideas.
“There’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son, there’s no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I’m all for that,” Belichick, the first-year North Carolina head coach and former Patriots coach, said when asked about the differences between the NFL and college football in an interview with The Boston Globe. “But it’s way less of what it was at that level. Generic NFL teams, you have the owner, president, general manager, personnel director, college director, pro director, cap guy, some other consultant, then head coach.
“I’d say when we had our best years in New England, we had fewer people and more of a direct vision. And as that expanded, it became harder to be successful.”
In other words: Patriots president Jonathan Kraft, the son of team owner Robert Kraft, isn’t in Belichick’s way at Chapel Hill.
The 73-year-old Belichick is entering his first stint as a coach in any capacity at the collegiate level. Belichick, who said being a college head coach is “much more cohesive” than in the NFL, didn’t coach in 2024 after parting ways with the Patriots following the 2023 season.
In a legendary 24-year run as New England’s head coach (2000-23), the Patriots went a combined 266-121 in the regular season and 30-12 in the postseason under Belichick. Of course, that was highlighted by six Super Bowl triumphs. Future Hall of Fame quarterback Tom Brady departed New England after the 2019 season, and the franchise made the playoffs just once in Belichick’s final four years as head coach (2021).
North Carolina opens the 2025 college football season at home against TCU on Sept. 1. At present, the Tar Heels’ only ranked game this coming season is a home matchup against No. 4 Clemson.
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Meanwhile, the Patriots have a new head coach for a second consecutive year in former Tennessee Titans coach and Patriots linebacker Mike Vrabel. New England opens the 2025 regular season at home against the Las Vegas Raiders on Sept. 7.
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