Bill Belichick on his change in approach to life since leaving NFL: 'It's all about learning'

Bill Belichick knew changes were coming as soon as he left the NFL, had a year off and eventually landed at North Carolina. Being able to adapt to many new things in his life will be key.

Speaking with Michael Strahan, Belichick, despite having all of the answers throughout his career, said he was eager to learn more. He’ll have to in college football where he’s never run a program.

But, Belichick is taking the NFL approach in the college game, with some tweaks. We’ll see how the product unfolds on the field.

“Again, for me, it’s all about learning,” Belichick said on Good Morning America. “You know, I learn every day, and I’ve learned so much being back in the college environment with whether it be recruiting, the college game, the rules, the hash marks, some strategy, and just putting a team together. But I’ve learned a lot. I learn every day. I’ve got a great staff. You know, Michael Lombardi has done a great job for me in terms of bringing the personnel side of it together. 

“And, you know, us having a shared vision, kind of like we had in the NFL: we have a coach-general manager model, and so that’s been great as well to work with him and to, you know, go through the process of re-acclimating to a little bit of a football, still football, but there’s certainly some differences.” 

College football could align more with the NFL as the years progress. The impending House Settlement will lead to revenue share and for all we know, players could eventually be full fledged employees with how money is being thrown around. Belichick thinks eventually there will be some sort of solution to maximize earning potential while maintaining competitive balance.

“And it’ll be interesting to see how the whole house settlement comes out with what the rules are exactly, with roster size and and, you know, compensation for the players, NIL and all of that,” Belichick said. “And trying to figure out how to maximize, you know, giving the players the the financial rewards they deserve, at the same time maintaining the competitive balance on your team, like we had to do a salary cap in NFL.”

We’re still a little less than four months away from the start of the season, so there’s more development to be had. Belichick and North Carolina kickoff September 1st at home vs. TCU at 8:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.