When Bill Belichick became head coach at the University of North Carolina, he flatly said he didn’t go there “to leave.”
However, one of his former players, Rob Gronkowski, disagrees.
Belichick, after being out of the NFL for the first time in nearly 50 years, agreed last month to become UNC’s next head coach, saying it was a dream fulfilled to enter the college ranks.
However, Belichick has obviously found his success in the National Football League, and Gronk believes Belichick still has his eyes set on returning home.
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When asked during a recent interview with Pak Gazette Digital if he thought Belichick would retire as a Tar Heel, he said he didn’t think so.
“I think if Bill is successful, he will eventually hand that program over to his son, whose son is just developing into a future head coach,” Gronkowski said. “I love his son, and he’s doing a great job in the college defensive ranks… So I think Coach Belichick will have good success at UNC, but I think his heart really belongs in the NFL ranks.” , and eventually he will leave. “He will return to the NFL if it is in three or four years, but I think he ends his career as the head coach of an NFL team.”
Belichick coached the New England Patriots for 24 seasons, winning six Super Bowls during his tenure; three of them were with Gronkowski as their star tight end. Following the 2023 season, the coach and team mutually agreed to part ways.
Without Belichick, the Pats had one of their worst seasons in recent memory, going 4-13, although Drake Maye gave fans something to be excited about. Coming into Sunday, they held the first overall pick, but with their win, they will now pick fourth. Gronkowski, who recently partnered with Bounty, says the paper towel brand may be enough to clean up the current mess in Foxboro.
“I’m a couple minutes away right now. If I just walk over, grab my Bounty paper towel, it’s a mess in there right now, and just use the Bounty paper towels with a couple of wipes, man, I’ll do it.” “I’ll probably be the coach right after,” he joked.
Gronkowski joined fellow future Hall of Famer Drew Brees as his Bounty Wingman before the playoffs, because, as Buffalo native Gronk says, “You can’t have football without wings, and you can’t have wings without Bounty”.
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“That’s why I’m the total package here. I’m all three: I love football, I love wings and I love Bounty. And Drew Brees and I are going to go to New Orleans, we’re going to take over the city and we’re going to clean up our mess with the Bounty paper towels,” Gronk, who, surprisingly, has never been to the city, said of his association with the Saints legend.
In moving on from Belichick, the Patriots chose Jerod Mayo, a pick handpicked by Belichick himself years ago. But after just one season, he was fired and Gronk wasn’t happy.
“I was surprised to hear that Jerod was fired. I mean, I felt like it was a little unfair to him, because he took a team where he was going to need some time to build and develop to get back to winning ways,” he said. “I mean, the roster was depleted, Jerod was a rookie head coach and I felt like I needed another year to really judge him based on how he was going to develop and grow after that first season. But obviously, right after the first season, it was evident that [Robert] Kraft felt he simply wasn’t the right person to build a culture back to winning ways. Therefore, Kraft wasted no time and left Jerod’s duties aside.
“Now I feel like Kraft will do everything he can in the process of hiring a new head coach that he believes will turn this program around and get them back to the playoffs as soon as possible. It’s a bit of an ugly situation, but I think “I’m sorry on both sides. You have to win, but I also feel like it wasn’t enough time to evaluate Jerod Mayo.”
The overwhelming speculation is that Mike Vrabel will be the Pats’ man: he played for New England and became the coach of the Tennessee Titans after his playing days ended.