Michael Lombardi Says Bill Belichick's UNC Considers Itself the '33rd' NFL Team

UNC head coach Bill Belichick is set to embark on his first attempt to coach at the college level, but it sounds like he's treating his new gig like an NFL job.

While speaking to reporters on Tuesday, UNC general manager Michael Lombardi revealed that he and Belichick consider the Tar Heels program to be the NFL's "33rd team."

Belichick put together a legendary career in the NFL, leading the New England Patriots to six Super Bowl titles during his 24-year tenure as head coach. After spending the 2024 season as a broadcaster, he signed on to replace Mack Brown at the helm of UNC.

The 72-year-old said during his introductory press conference that his goal is to prepare Tar Heels players for life at the professional level, so he would run the program the same way he'd run an NFL team.

"In terms of when I say a pro program, I would say through my experience, what we did in terms of training, developing players, running pro systems, pro techniques, so when players leave here, this isn't going from the wishbone to a pro offense," Belichick explained. "There will be similar terminology, similar techniques and fundamentals, similar training, similar preparation techniques that have been very successful for me through the years and that I know that other NFL teams are using, whether other college teams are using or not."