Just when we were wrapping up the regular season of college football, a bombshell hit on December 11. The GOAT of NFL coaching, looking for greener pastures, found a new home at UNC Tar Heels. Of course, we all know Bill Belichick’s record with the Patriots—six Super Bowl rings and countless wins. His multimillion-dollar move to UNC surprised everyone, but no one was surprised with how Belichick approached his new gig.

Aiming to create a factory for the NFL at UNC, Bill went on a hiring spree. Defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, and Michael Lombardi as the GM. But on the flip side, UNC recently lost their running back coach, and it seems that would make Marcus Freeman happy in the long run…

Marcus Freeman might take advantage of UNC’s latest coaching departure

The Notre Dame Fighting Irish’s coach came fresh off a narrowly missed shot at the national title. Despite having a fairytale season all along (14-2), the historic head coach failed to reap the ultimate fruit of his hard work as Ohio State upset them in a massive 23-34 victory in the College Football Championship. Now add to that some recent developments and things don’t look very good for the upcoming season for Freeman…The Irish lost two of their coaching staffs, namely assistant wide receivers coach Michael Bearden and running backs coach Deland McCullough, to the NFL. Meaning?

The Fighting Irish are currently fighting an emptying coaching staff room. But what are the options? There might be a few, but Larry Porter, the former UNC RB coach, is a prime candidate, as per Tyler Wojciak. The Notre Dame insider said, ”Another option is Larry Porter, who was the running backs coach and the special teams coordinator, which is kind of an odd pairing, but that was the case for Larry Porter at North Carolina. The last four years coaching under Mack Brown, he has been a 28-year coaching veteran, two-time national recruiter of the year, and a three-time Royals Award nominee.”

Sounds enough to tick him as a potential addition to Freeman’s adorned coaching room? Well, there is more. The 28-year coaching veteran can match perfectly with Freeman’s go-getter attitude and the level of assertiveness and standard he has for the program. Under his tenure, the Tar Heels’ running game reached a significant high. In his first year, he led a running back room that helped the Tar Heels lead the ACC in rushing yards.

Now, you can make a valid argument asking why it would be a problem for Belichick since he already did a lot to decorate his coaching room. Here’s your answer. ‘‘He doesn’t have a job right now because he did not stay on at North Carolina once Bill Belichick came in. Still, just saying that out loud, Bill Belichick, the coach of North Carolina, is still going to take some time to get used to,” Wojciak came out clean on Belichick’s projected trouble without an experienced coach in the room.

Interestingly, Porter is still listed as an active member of the coaching staff on the UNC’s official website. But going by Wojciak’s revelation, we might be up for an announcement soon!

Having said that, the grass is greener on the other side, no matter what. “I think that it could be perfect timing for Larry Porter. Like I said, he doesn’t have a job right now, so I’m sure he’s looking to get one quickly, and if he’s ready to jump right back in, I think he’d be a great candidate to be Notre Dame’s next running backs coach,’‘ the Irish insider stood firm on his stance.

But they wouldn’t be in much trouble, as they found a reliable replacement.

Bill Belichick found a good catch to replace Larry Porter

The University of North Carolina has successfully refilled Porter’s departure with former Tar Heels and NFL Pro Bowl running back Natrone Means as its new running backs coach. This move comes as Bill Belichick, who took over as UNC coach in December, took some strong moves in forming a high-octane coaching assembly.

Means, a two-time first-team All-ACC selection, rushed for 3,074 yards and 34 touchdowns during his college career with the Tar Heels. After being drafted in the second round (41st overall) by the LA Chargers, he was in the NFL from 1993 to 2000 and became the youngest player to score a touchdown in a Super Bowl at age 22. He was already serving the program as an offensive analyst under Mack Brown since 2021. So, both talent and experience are there in his favor.

There has been a growing rumor that Belichick’s college football experiment is never meant to be long-term. Eventually, he will return to the NFL, as several leagues are lurking behind the bar to get him back. But the truth is the veteran is putting in a real effort to make his UNC tenure a grand success, and rebuilding the program has been one of his key stepping stones for that.