Mack Brown: UNC invested money, lowered academic standards to help Bill Belichick succeed

With the Bill Belichick era set to start at North Carolina this fall, his predecessor has high expectations. Mack Brown sees the program in position to succeed under the legendary NFL head coach.

Brown left UNC after his second stint this past year, amassing a 44-33 overall record from 2019-24. However, the two sides parted ways at the end of the 2024 season, and North Carolina made quite the splash by landing Belichick. It marks his first college head coaching job.

As he looked ahead to the Tar Heels’ season, Brown pointed out the way the university helped with academics amid the transition. He said the school lowered standards a bit while also investing money to help the program succeed quickly.

Mack Brown opens up on leaving UNC and shares with @DustyDvoracek & @dannykanell why UNC has a chance to be successful quickly with Bill Belichick. pic.twitter.com/Mj9yE3poOk

— College Sports on SiriusXM (@SXMCollege) May 20, 2025

“As far as North Carolina and Bill Belichick now, he’s arguably the best coach ever,” Brown told Dusty Dvoracek and Danny Kanell on SiriusXM College Sports Radio. “They’ve committed money to it, they’ve helped him with academics. They’ve lowered those standards some. So there’s absolutely no reason they shouldn’t be successful.

“And anymore, they’ve changed the roster. … So you’ve got a chance to succeed at the highest level, and I expect him to do that and I’m proud for him.”

Mack Brown on UNC departure: ‘It was time for me’

Brown went 6-6 during his final season at North Carolina before departing. He looked back on the decision, which he said was in the best interest of both sides amid the ever-changing college sports landscape – something Brown spoke about multiple times.

He also pointed out a specific case regarding future first-round pick Omarion Hampton. Brown recalled Hampton being offered upward of seven figures in NIL dollars to enter the transfer portal, but he chose to stay despite having a $350,000 deal at North Carolina.

“It was time for me,” Brown said. “North Carolina didn’t have NIL money and I said we were kind of a slow bleed. We weren’t able to recruit the top kids like we were when we first got there. So it was time for them and it was time for me. It’s kind of like a divorce. Everybody was ready, it’s just who and how and how you split at the end. So it was best for me to get out. We always built programs on fit, and our last couple years there, we were having to get parents with money. We were trying to get kids over a 3.0. That’s who we could get.

“We signed 26 players at North Carolina our next-to-last year – high school players – and didn’t pay them a penny. So those kids, we even had Omarion Hampton, he got offered $1 million-plus to leave and he stayed for $300,000. I told him he should leave, because it was just crazy as you were looking at those things.”