While the Patriots' success began to dry up towards the end of his tenure, Bill Belichick's departure was a sad day for the organization and all Patriots fans. The franchise went from a trophyless afterthought before his hiring to a team with six Super Bowls and 12 AFC Championships. New England's success rate from 2000 to 2023 was a testament to its elite coaching.
After Tom Brady's departure during the offseason of 2020, the Patriots had the opportunity to reset. After reaching a respectable 7-9 record with the shell of Cam Newton, the Patriots selected Mac Jones at No. 15 overall in 2021 and made the playoffs that same season with a 10-7 record.
The next year saw Jones' sophomore slump and the flash-in-the-pan that was Bailey Zappe. Despite a chance to make the playoffs in the final week, New England ended the season 8-9. As if that wasn't bad enough, New England would win 8 games across the next two seasons.
Their first of two four-win seasons led to Belichick's departure. After so much success with Brady at the helm, Belichick was 29-38. They had negative season-point differentials in 2020 and 2023, something that hadn't happened since 2000, his first year as head coach.
Bill Belichick's legacy is further sliding away from where it was in the NFL
Rather than taking the television route after his departure from New England, Belichick signed on to be the North Carolina head coach after a one-year coaching hiatus. What seemed sure to be a landmark season in Chapel Hill was anything but. After a 6-7 season in 2024, 2025 was even worse, with the Tarheels going 4-8, their lowest win total since 2018.
Given his NFL success, it also seemed a sure thing that UNC players would be prepared for the NFL, even if the team didn't gel as initially hoped. Instead, not a single Tarheel was drafted. This marked the first time since 2016 that the draft didn't feature a North Carolina player.
Since 2016, they've had three first-round picks (Omarion Hampton), two of which were selected in the top three (Mitch Trubisky and Drake Maye). 29 total players have been selected in that time frame, while seven players signed UDFA contracts last offseason.
While Belichick hasn't had long enough to build a recruiting pipeline and leave his stamp on the program, his tenure with UNC has thus far been one to forget.
So far, four players who played for Belichick last season have been signed as free agents.
Cornerback Thaddeus Dixon, who signed with the Giants, could be a player to look out for, given his reported contract. He's set to receive $282.5k in guarantees, more than the signing bonus of nearly all the sixth and seventh rounds.
While time will tell if Belichick's tenure in Chapel Hill becomes more fruitful, it's been disappointing thus far. Between the worst record in eight years and 2026 marking the first season without a UNC player drafted since 2016, the Patriot great will need to turn things around quickly if he plans to stay with the program for the foreseeable future.
Add us as a preferred source on Google