Brady: Belichick’s challenge at UNC is working with 17- and 18-year-olds

Tom Brady knows better than most what it’s like to play for Bill Belichick, which informs his confidence in his former coach’s first foray into the college ranks as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
Brady, who won six of his seven Super Bowl championships as quarterback of Belichick’s New England Patriots, declared he’s part of the large group intrigued to see how Belichick coaches college players in Chapel Hill, N.C. — a.k.a. “Chapel Bill.”
“What they’re gonna get is, obviously, the most prepared, the most hard-working coach that I’d ever been around,” Brady said during the latest episode of “The Joel Klatt Show: A College Football Podcast,” which was released on Monday.
“If you go to that school, you will be prepared to play at the next level. He’s gonna teach you the right fundamentals, the right techniques. He’s gonna have a high expectation for you and you’re gonna develop a lot. That’s what I know.”
North Carolina signed Belichick, 73, to a five-year deal through the 2029 season to replace Mack Brown. He will earn $10 million a year, plus up to $3.5 million in performance incentives. The first three years of the contract are guaranteed.
Belichick won six Super Bowls in 24 seasons with the Patriots while compiling an 302-165 regular-season record as head coach for the Cleveland Browns (1991-95) and Patriots (2000-23).
“I think the challenge for him is he’s dealing with a lot of, probably, under-developed players, because he’s dealt with guys that are four, five, six years further along than what he’s normally had to deal with. So I think there’s probably a learning curve for him,” Brady said on the podcast.
“And this is just me hypothesizing — I don’t have much knowledge of it — but I’m sure it’s different coaching a 17- or 18-year-old than even a 22- or 23-year-old. So, there’s probably just less physically developed and he’s a very deep thinker of the sport.”
Since last spring, North Carolina’s players have been working in what has been called an NFL-style program to prepare for the season opener on Sept. 1 at home against TCU.
“I think what makes Coach Belichick so unbelievable, tactically, (is) he can break down an opponent. He watches so much film. He is so smart with how he approaches defensive schemes and offensive schemes,” Brady said.
“How much can these young kids retain? That may be an interesting challenge as well because, in some ways, they’re not professionals. They don’t have as much time as we had as professional athletes to go in there and study film and practice and meet and all that. They don’t have that amount of time at the college level.”
Brady, 48, played for the Patriots from 2000-19 and won Super Bowls in the 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018 seasons before capturing another league championship with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. A three-time NFL MVP, Brady retired after the 2022 season with three first-team All-Pro and 15 Pro Bowl selections.