The University of North Carolina has hired six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick as the football team's head coach.
Legendary Saskatchewan Roughriders quarterback Darian Durent played his NCAA football at UNC from 2001 through 2004. The former Tar Heel approves his alma mater appointing Belichick as bench boss.
"You know what, I love it," Durant told SportsCage host Barney Shynkaruk. "I think that we need a change. We've always been looked at as a basketball school, as a pretty dominant basketball program. This will be great for North Carolina; I'm looking forward to it."
The Tar Heels rank third in NCAA history with six national championships in men's basketball while UNC has won 18 Atlantic Coast Conference tournaments and 33 ACC regular-season titles. The UNC football team has never won a national championship. The Tar Heels last won a conference championship in 1980 with Dick Crum as head coach after an 11-1 season.
Before joining the Riders, Durant set program bests at UNC while holding 51 offensive records when he graduated, including career passing yards and touchdown passes. At the current time, his 8,755 passing yards ranks third in school history with Sam Howell and T.J. Yates above him, 68 touchdown passes puts him second behind Howell's 92.
Belichick has the most Super Bowl wins as a coach in NFL history, winning all six with the New England Patriots. He ranks second all-time in wins as a head coach with 333 and sits 14 behind the all-time leader Don Shula at 347. Durant has high hopes for Belichick leading his Tar Heels.
"You see what Deion Sanders and his name has done for the University of Colorado and I think you'll see more of this as time goes on," Durant said.
Prior to Sanders going to Colorado, the team's record was 1-11. After Sanders arrived as head coach in 2023, the Buffaloes improved to 4-8 and 9-3 in 2024 while tutoring Heisman Trophy winner Travis Hunter. Durant believes Belichick can have a similar affect at UNC.
"This will bring out a different side of Bill Belichick, knowing that you have to deal with 17, 18, 19 year-old kids, and with that comes building trust in their household with their parents. He'll enjoy being on the road and recruiting. There will only be a select group of guys he'll go after and he'll go himself," Durant explained.
"If the guy is worthy, he's a five-star athlete, he's a program-changer, Bill Belichick will go in his home sit with their parents, sit with these kids and try to get it done. I'm excited about the spring game so I can go in, feel the environment, see what it's like to be around the greatest coach in NFL history."
