Bill Belichick reacts to Big Ten's new College Football Playoff format proposal

Bill Belichick threw himself into the college football world by accepting the North Carolina head coaching job. With it comes questions about the sport’s future, specifically the College Football Playoff. And after reports of the Big Ten “populating” the idea of a 24 or 28-team field, Belichick was asked about the possibility.

In typical fashion, he did not directly answer the question. Belichick believes the CFP’s future is in the hands of people in charge, those higher up than him. However, a lot of respect for Big Ten commissioner Tony Petitti did come from Belichick.

“I think that one is over my pay grade,” Belichick said. “I have a ton of respect for Tony, I think Tony’s done a great job as commissioner of the Big Ten. Greg (Sankey) in the SEC, for that matter. Whatever the conference commissioners and NCAA, college presidents, decide, is what they decide. I’m going to kind of back out of that one. Whatever it is, try to focus on getting our team ready to play this season the best I can here.

“I’m not sure I know all the information and the ramifications of those decisions. How it impacts academics, conference playoffs, and all else. I just don’t think I’m the right person for all that. But I’m not going to get into a debate with Tony Petitti, I have a ton of respect for Tony. If that’s his opinion, I’m sure he’s got a good basis for it.”

Given how locked in Belichick can be, it’s easy to see a world where he did not pay much attention to college football during the four-team College Football Playoff era. Spending last season out of coaching would have given the now-UNC coach a good idea of the landscape as expansion has hit 12 teams.

Ultimately, the goal for Belichick is to get his team into the postseason at some point. The 2025 journey will begin on Sept. 1, hosting the TCU Horned Frogs in a Monday night primetime showdown. All of the college football world will have its televisions dialed to ESPN at 8 p.m. ET, looking to get a glance at Belichick’s first game in charge.

Conversations about the College Football Playoff will continue in the meantime. While some head coaches have expressed their opinion on the matter, Belichick plans on allowing some of the higher ups figure out what model works best moving forward.