Struggling with a dismal record and offseason scandals, the legendary coach heads to Dublin seeking redemption against the Horned Frogs team that ruined his collegiate debut.
In recent years, Dallas Cowboys owner Jerry Jones has flirted with the idea of hiring Bill Belichick, along the way even going so far as to exaggerate the facts about their "friendship.''
One of Jones’ pet stories? A tale of him being on a Colorado ski slope in 1996 when he was nudged from behind by an elbow that happened to belong to Belichick.
He and had just been dumped as the head coach of the Cleveland Browns while owner Art Modell was moving the franchise to Baltimore.
“I can coach,’’ Jerry claims Belichick told him. “If you ever get an opportunity, don’t forget about me.”
Just a month earlier, the Cowboys had won the Super Bowl, with Barry Switzer in his second year as head coach. Switzer stayed with Dallas through the 1997 season, by which time Belichick was reunited with mentor Bill Parcells and was on the fast track to becoming the boss in New England, where he would become a legend, with six Super Bowl titles to his credit.
“I’ve thought about that many times,” Jones has said. “You never know where you can find a great coach. You can find them in a ski checkout line sometimes.”
It’s a fun story.
The truth? Even after all these years, they are acquaintances. They are not BFFs. ... and right about now, it seems Belichick could use all the friends he can get.
The legendary coach is about to begin his second season in charge at University of North Carolina, where he has taken a bad program ... and made it worse.
A year ago, Belichick's UNC debut was ruined by TCU, which scored 41 unanswered points on the way to a decisive 48-14 win over a Tar Heels program that had been all about boasting that it would become "the 33rd NFL team.''
In fact, nobody off last year's UNC squad was even drafted by the NFL, and Belichick's club finished ...
On Aug. 29, TCU gets another shot at embarrassing Belichick, this time under an international spotlight with the game being played in Dublin, Ireland.
And if the Horned Frogs do it right? They'll send the Tar Heels into a spiral, as was the case a year ago, when the ballyhooed Belichick finished a dismal 4-8.
"The 33rd NFL team''? UNC was barely good enough to be the ACC's 14th-best team.
So, what comes next?
Belichick, now 74, may not have lost his famous Super Bowl fastball ... but he seems lost in college football. Nobody wanted to hire him in the NFL so he took a whopping $10 million annual salary to move to have-not North Carolina. One of his best pals, Michael Lombardi, was handed $1.5 million per year to serve as the GM, and he's proven to be incompetent, arrogant ... and under investigation.
Belichick seems also to be being led around by the nose by his granddaughter-aged ex-cheerleader girlfriend Jordon Hudson, who at 25 seems to be in charge of his life and involved in his football program despite an empty resume.
My long-time friend, NFL insider Gary Myers, has as much insight into Belichick and the Giants as anybody. And in my conversation with him right before Bill’s move to UNC, Myers made it clear to me that the incredibly accomplished Belichick still harbors one NFL dream.
Myers, who recently authored the book “Brady vs. Belichick. The Dynasty Debate,” told me, “Bill still loves the Giants. He’d walk from Chapel Hill to East Rutherford if that job was offered.’’
But, adds Myers: “As much as I can make the case that Bill, if he’d give up personnel control, would be perfect for the job - he gets teary-eyed at the romantic thought of it - let me put it this way:
“There’s a much better chance of him wanting this than of the Giants wanting him.’’
That’s a harsh reality for the proud Belichick, who after his collapse with the Patriots and his subpar results with UNC simply doesn’t get to write his own ticket anymore.
Belichick isn't ever getting the Giants job, which now belongs to John Harbaugh. When it was time to replace Mike McCarthy a year ago, Jerry Jones hired first-time head coach Brian Schottenheimer and didn't even interview his "friend'' Belichick for the Cowboys job.
What he's left with now?
He's got a pretty-but-pushy girlfriend. He's got support, but only from sycophants. He's got a fat salary.
Oh, and he's got a Tar Heels team that is a touchdown underdog to TCU.
