Key Tennessee Vols commit comments on North Carolina's decision to hire Bill Belichick
The North Carolina Tar Heels stunned the sports world on Wednesday by officially hiring legendary former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to replace Mack Brown as the program's new head coach. Belichick doesn't have any coaching experience at the collegiate level, but he's one of the greatest football coaches of all time. The […]
The North Carolina Tar Heels stunned the sports world on Wednesday by officially hiring legendary former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick to replace Mack Brown as the program's new head coach.
Belichick doesn't have any coaching experience at the collegiate level, but he's one of the greatest football coaches of all time. The Tar Heels are betting on Belichick's coaching skills translating to the college game.
One big difference between college football and the NFL is the recruiting aspect. Belichick doesn't have experience recruiting high school players, but he "recruited" free agents to New England for years, with money obviously playing a key role in those final decisions.
Thanks to the legality of NIL deals for college players, the money aspect now plays a key role in high school recruiting. The fact that recruiting is becoming more transactional should help Belichick treat it essentially like free agency.
A recruit that Belichick could have his eye on is 2026 five-star quarterback Faizon Brandon, a Tennessee Vols commit from Greensboro, NC.
Rivals.com's Adam Gorney suggested that Belichick should immediately give Brandon a call and try to flip him from the Vols.
It seems doubtful that Belichick will be able to swipe Brandon from Tennessee, but you never say never when it comes to high school recruiting.
On3's Chad Simmons and Steve Wiltfong asked Brandon this week about North Carolina's decision to hire Belichick. The five-star Vols commit offered a quick comment.
"I think that was a good decision by UNC," said Brandon. "And they will get a lot of recruits and win a lot of games.”
Brandon told 247Sports that he doesn't think that he'd take a phone call from Belichick because he's "1000 percent locked in with Tennessee".
Based on that response, it doesn't sound like Brandon is second guessing his decision to commit to Tennessee.
But there's still a year to go before Brandon can officially sign with the Vols, so I'm sure Belichick and others will continue to take a swing at the Greensboro native. But for now, it doesn't seem like there's anything for Tennessee fans to worry about.
