Bill Belichick’s foray into College Football essentially came as a surprise across the board. No one expected it. This is evidenced by how abruptly it happened, with very little fervor or reporting preceding it. His disposition as head coach of the UNC Tar Heels has divided fans into 2 factions, with some overlapping in between. Sort of like a venn diagram. There are those who think he’ll fail at this level. Those who think his acumen of the game will translate to CFB, and those who wish he’ll succeed but remain on the fence.

For those in the first category, the reasoning is beyond just coaching. From a tactical standpoint, no one believes Bill Belichick is over his head. However, the head coaching capacity at a college program entails much more than that. Recruitment is a key responsibility at this level. Belichick is of the era when recruiting in CFB was about whether a coach likes your mom’s cooking when they visit your house, trying to explain your fit in the program. The advent of the transfer portal and NIL has made it a more onerous proposition. The skeptics are unsure if Belichick, who didn’t have great success in the draft towards the end in New England, can recruit effectively. Well, it does help that his footprint affords him more aid than the usual first-year coach.

Stephen a.k.a Steve Belichick, son of Bill, is the defensive coordinator for the Washington Huskies. Although he took over this role mere months ago, his father’s new job has instigated murmurs that he’ll join him in North Carolina. Recent activity in the transfer portal has far from dissipated that notion. In fact, CFB fans are onto Steve with some allegations that are perhaps not too far-fetched. People are voicing concern that Belichicks may be involved in some kind of insider trading.

This notion stemmed after Huskies’ linebacker Khmori House left Washington and hit the portal. Curiously, he is now set to join the Tar Heels. House was rated the 2nd best linebacker traversing the portal and was an important member of the Washington defense. The freshman conjured 33 tackles, a forced fumble and an INT. A bunch of players left Washington after their huge crash from last season’s Natty appearance. However, the consensus around the program is that Khmori House’s decision came as a huge shock.

The allure of playing for arguably the greatest defensive mind in the history of the sport is strong. Alas, it’s got enough traction for fans of the Huskies and other persuasions to theorize that there’s some fraudulence at play. After the news of Khmori House’s UNC commitment was confirmed by his agency, the social media sphere got its takes on this development. 

The CFB sphere echoes its disdain and laments the Belichick clan’s actions

In reaction to the aforementioned X post of CBS Sports’ Matt Zenich relaying the news of Khmori House joining UNC, fans went into a bit of a meltdown. “This is bulls–it. Fire Steve Belichick now.” read one comment. “This is the most clear cut case of tampering we’ve just about ever seen” wrote another fan. The optics of how this went down don’t make Steve and Bill Belichick look too innocent.

“Bill’s son recruiting players to UNC while on staff at another school, lol” read another comment reiterating the same notion. One person quoted the post, saying, “Is Steve Belichick recruiting players to UNC while he is on staff at UW? Ridiculous to keep him on staff if he is. Get rid of him. Don’t care about the buyout. Complete nonsense” It’s been reported that Steve Belichick has a $10 million buyout from the Huskies.

Washington Huskies’ insider and reporter Chris Fetters also weighed in. “We’re assuming Khmori will reconnect with current UW DC Steve Belichick when Belichick heads to Chapel Hill after the Sun Bowl. But will current @UW_Football LB Coach Robert Bala also be heading to UNC? We should know the answer to that soon.” he said.

It is indeed possible that Steve isn’t the only member of staff on their way out. With the gaudy buyout stipulated in his contract, it’ll be interesting to see how things pan out during what will be a very long off-season.