“Belichik to the University of North Carolina (Chapel Hill) … the absurd hypothesis has become a reality.”
Bill Belichik, the greatest football player in the history of the National Football League, was appointed as the coach of North Carolina, which is famous for its basketball university. The U.S. sports community was surprised.
The University of North Carolina is also famous for its alma mater of basketball’s Michael Jordan and women’s soccer team Mia Hamm. Jordan has accomplishments such as six NBA championships, six NBA championships, and two Olympic gold medals, which are hard to fathom. Unlike Korea, which has many emperors and empires, players rarely use exaggerated or outdated modifiers. Jordan, however, is rarely called the “emperor” in American sports.
Mia Hamm is considered the best player in women’s soccer history with two Olympic gold medals and two FIFA Player of the Year awards.
The University of North Carolina has one of the strongest sports teams in the U.S., producing a number of athletes besides the two. At the U.S. National University Championship, it won men’s basketball six times, women’s 22 times including nine consecutive years of women’s soccer, and women’s field hockey 11 times. It won 51 times including men’s lacrosse five times.
However, the most popular American football in American sports is just that kind of school. It has never produced a remarkable performance since it won the regional league in 1980. It is too shabby for its reputation.
American football is an absolute necessity to maintain the entire sports club. He earns a lot of money and supports other sports teams. This means that he is so popular. American football and basketball account for the majority of NCAA revenue. The rest of the sports are run on the revenue generated by the two sports events. Men’s basketball also contributes considerably, but it is incomparable to American football.
Six universities, including Michigan State University 107,600, have stadiums exclusively for American football that can accommodate more than 100,000 spectators. Seven universities alone can accommodate more than 100,000 spectators on average. The largest Sangam Stadium in Korea can accommodate 66,000 spectators. However, the stadium can accommodate two to four times a year, including soccer matches. You can guess how enthusiastic college football is in the U.S.
Ohio State University has $280 million in athletic department revenues for the entire year of 2023. Of those, football’s revenue was 45% or $127 million. Of these, 64 million is ticket revenue. That’s how much spectators flock to college sports.
With college this high, the professional earns astronomical numbers of revenue. The NFL makes the most money of any major sports league in the world. Revenue for the 2023-2024 season is around $20 billion. It is much more popular than MLB’s $11.6 billion, NBA $11.3 billion, and EPL $6.5 billion (estimated).
The income of North Carolina at the University of North Carolina is 57 million U.S. dollars, which is only half that of strong players in American football. As the basketball team is so strong, the team has earned 32 million dollars to contribute to the overall operation of the sports team. However, the team judged that it would not be easy for the entire sports team to survive in the future unless the team is properly raised.
The University of North Carolina has made a huge investment to turn American football into a powerhouse. The university has decided to spend nearly 30 million dollars a year, including 10 million dollars in annual salary, 10 million dollars in coaching salary, and 5.3 million dollars in support staff salary to bring Belichik back.
Belichik started his NFL career as a coach for the Baltimore Colts in 1975. He became the coach of the New England Patriots in 2000 and led them to six Super Bowls in 24 seasons. He received three NFL Coach of the Year awards. He is recognized as a genius for his defensive strategy. He is ranked third in history with 333 wins and 178 losses.
Belichik, widely known as the “most successful neuropaxxer genius in NFL history,” played with college players and recruited teenagers, which was a surprise to most people. The University of North Carolina had Dean Smith, a great men’s basketball coach, as well as two national championships in 36 years. However, American football has a weak tradition. Even future Hall of Famer Tom Brady, who led Belichik to six-time Super Bowl champion, said, “It’s unimaginable.”
However, football officials say it is a “great investment.” Belichik is expected to set a new example for all colleges and universities at the University of North Carolina.
Belichik hired Michael Lombardi, who had worked with him for a long time in the professional league, as the head of the American Football Association. For decades, the two have built one of the most innovative and well-organized management organizations in the NFL, with tremendous experience in player evaluation, contract negotiation, and resource optimization. The player valuation system developed by the two in Cleveland in the 1990s is still in use in the NFL. College is still trying to learn it.
Over the past two decades, all NFL clubs have competed to take coaches or operational staff who worked under Bellich. Now, other universities are also working to create an NFL-style organization that Bellichik created. All sports officials of the university, as well as American football, are paying attention.
At his inaugural press conference, Belichik, who is famous for being concise and quiet, said he would “raise great people, great players,” and make North Carolina vs. the U.S. a professional. It does not mean that he will develop players’ skills like they are now professional. It means that he will follow the most advanced NFL system in world sports in terms of player training, player development, tactical development, and operation. Belichik gave college football a clear idea of where to go.
In 2025, the most exciting story in college and professional football is expected to be Belichik’s first season as a coach for North Carolina. Although Belichik has no college experience, the rationale for his optimism that he is considered the best coach for the new era is simple: “The most prepared, proven coach, no matter what.”
Korea’s university sports are disappearing. There are few spectators or broadcasts in soccer, baseball, basketball, and volleyball. Not many people know if there is a university sports team. Most of the 안전놀이터 professional sports in Korea are in the red, but they are no match for such programs.
It’s embarrassing to compare Korean college sports with American college sports
