Eight Super Bowl championships weren’t enough for Bill Belichick to be highly rated in CBS Sports’ annual Power Four college football coach rankings.
Belichick, who became the UNC Tar Heels coach in December 2024, came in at No. 54 of 68. Georgia’s Kirby Smart came in at No. 1, Ohio State’ Ryan Day at No. 2 and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney came in at No. 3.
“Now, here’s an interesting case study of how our voters think. Belichick has won six Super Bowls as a head coach and two as an assistant. He’s widely considered one of the greatest football coaches of all time,” CBS’ Tom Fornelli wrote. “And I had him 66th on my ballot. Why? Because none of that success has happened at the college level. Our John Talty had him at 19 because he’s Bill Belichick. In the end, he finished here. It’ll be interesting to see where he’s ranked a year from now.”
UNC is Belichick’s first college coaching job after a successful run in the NFL that included a two decades of success — with six Super Bowl championships — with the New England Patriots. It’s unclear if the success he had at the pro level will translate to college, but the 73-year-old has been busy recruiting and preparing for the upcoming season.
Belichick’s freshman season begins Sept. 1 when UNC takes on TCU at home.