Kliff Kingsbury Offers Up Classic Reaction To Bill Belichick Taking The North Carolina Job

Published|Updated

In one of the most surprising moves in recent sports history, Bill Belichick is officially returning to the sideline as a head coach, but at the collegiate level, after formally being introduced as the newest head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels on Thursday.

When rumors and reports began swirling that Belichick had interviewed for the head coaching job in Chapel Hill, the entire world believed that he was just testing the waters and formally signaling to the NFL world that he was ready to get back into the coaching game after retiring in January.

It's hard to imagine Belichick, who will turn 73 in April, on a college sideline in the year 2025 when the entire sport revolves around 17-22 year olds and the best NIL deals they can acquire.

While the entire sports world is shocked about Belichick accepting what will be his first job at the college level of his entire career, Kliff Kingsbury may be the most shocked of anyone.

Bill Belichick is the newest head football coach at North Carolina. (Photo by Andy Lewis/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)

Kingsbury, the offensive coordinator of the Washington Commanders, has coaching experience at both levels, including an analyst role at USC just last season. After witnessing the ins and outs of how the college game works nowadays, he simply can not believe Belichick is jumping into that arena.

"I will have to see him on the sideline to believe that’s happening," Kingsbury said when asked about Belichick accepting the job in Chapel Hill. "I will have to see him on the sideline coaching in Chapel Hill to believe that’s happening. I don’t see my man going into any home visits or doing like the cocktail hour after the visits. I just don’t," Kingsbury continued. "Maybe he’ll set it up like an NFL deal, but I have to see it to believe it."

Belichick has already brought in longtime NFL executive Michael Lombardi and hired him as North Carolina's general manager, signaling that he'll likely be as hands-off as possible when it comes to anything involving NIL.

The hiring of Belichick immediately creates an all-time level of buzz surrounding the North Carolina football program, now it comes down to acquiring talent and as many dollars as possible to turn the Tar Heels into a legitimate contender.

Tags
Written by

Mark covers all sports at OutKick while keeping a close eye on the world of professional golf. He graduated from the University of Tennessee-Chattanooga before earning his master's degree in journalism from the University of Tennessee. He somehow survived living in Knoxville despite ‘Rocky Top’ being his least favorite song ever written. Before joining OutKick, he wrote for various outlets including SB Nation, The Spun, and BroBible. Mark was also a writer for the Chicago Cubs Double-A affiliate in 2016 when the team won the World Series. He's still waiting for his championship ring to arrive. Follow him on Twitter @itismarkharris.