As administrative turmoil and a dismal 4-8 record jeopardize Bill Belichick's tenure, top-tier candidates are already eyeing the potential UNC vacancy for a high-stakes program reset.
Coming into just his second season at North Carolina, head coach Bill Belichick could quickly be finding his seat hot before the regular season.
It didn't appear that way after spring football. UNC spent a lot of money firing men's basketball head coach Hubert Davis and bringing in Michael Malone, a former NBA head coach.
The Tar Heels have Belichick under a five-year deal worth $50 million, and giving the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach some patience might have been a prudent move despite suffering an embarrassing 4-8 record last year.
However, North Carolina can only absorb so many blows, and general manager Michael Lombardi being placed on paid administrative leave could be a catalyst that gets the ball in motion to make a clean break from the Belichick saga.
On Sunday, Josh Pate made the argument that the Belichick era wouldn't tarnish the UNC brand in the future, noting that it's an attractive destination for college coaches.
"I know some people who would want the job right now, who would probably be on the short list," Pate said. "It's still a desirable position. In fact, it's probably going to be looked at as a position that is really desirable for the first time in a long time because you flushed some of slash a lot of what needed to be flushed out of the athletic department out.
"I don't mean (former athletic director) Bubba Cunningham. I mean the entire mess that prevented him from doing his job effectively. I think also this was the medicine that was needed. A lot of people needed to have their eyelids stapled to the top of their forehead and forced to watch this play out."
Pate reminded listeners that there was an internal power struggle at North Carolina during the last coaching search, with the administration and Cunningham running a search while some members of the board of trustees and boosters ran the search that ended with Belichick being hired.
If Belichick is out after this season, UNC had better hope lessons have been learned about how to hire a head coach. North Carolina can still hire a promising leader, and it must protect the brand with a future hire.
