CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — When Bill Belichick took the job as head football coach at North Carolina, he noted that he had spent time in Chapel Hill as a young boy when his father, Steve Belichick, was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953 to 1955.
Bill, who was born in 1952, may not remember a ton from those days around the UNC football program, but he does remember learning a lot from his father, who spent over 30 years as a college coach and scout for Navy following the stint in Chapel Hill.
Now, in what seems like a full circle moment, Bill Belichick has the opportunity to coach in the college ranks alongside his two sons: Steve, the Tar Heels’ new defensive coordinator, and Brian, the new defensive backs coach.
“I learned a lot from being around my dad. A lot of it was just from like osmosis … It’s not like instruction, you just live it and you hear things and you start to put it together and things like that,” Bill Belichick said Wednesday during fall practice in Chapel Hill. “I’m sure some of that was true for them but that’s something that, you know, I never tried to push them into. It’s something that they wanted to do, but they’ve been around it their whole lives.”
At 38 years old, Steve Belichick already has over a dozen years of coaching experience. The majority of his career has been spent working for and with his dad on the New England Patriots staff. His lone season last year at the University of Washington, where he served as a defensive coordinator for the first time, was the exception.
“I try and, you know, take a lot from my dad. He’s definitely my mentor, my idol,” Steve Belichick said. “I look up to him in more ways than just football … I’m always trying to take something from him. I’m always trying to be a sponge and, you know, absorb as much as I can.”
Despite the family business of coaching football that now spans three generations, there was one person who wasn’t always on board.
“My mom always told me I could do something better with my life, but I just kind of fell in love with the game,” Steve Belichick said. “I appreciated my mom for saying that, and at this point I understand a little bit of what she’s saying, but, you know, my grandpa used to say if you love what you do then you never work a day in your life, especially during training camp where it’s just, you know, all football.”
Steve, alongside his father Bill and brother Brian, are working together to rebuild a Tar Heels program that has seen significant turnover in the last few months, all while keeping the late Belichick patriarch’s legacy going.
“The month of August is dedicated to football and getting ready for the football season and I really enjoy that, I love that,” Steve Belichick said. “It’s a great time.”