Former Alabama football coach Nick Saban and Bill Belichick go way back.
The two legendary coaches first met in 1982 when Saban was the defensive backs coach at Navy, where Belichick’s father Steve was an assistant for many years. Saban was Belichick’s defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Browns in the early 90s.
The two became close and were featured in a 2019 HBO documentary titled, “Belichick & Saban: The Art of Coaching.” Moreover, Saban welcomed Belichick to Tuscaloosa for the Crimson Tide’s annual Pro Day events for many years when was at the height of his supremacy in the NFL as the New England Patriots head coach.
On Thursday, the 72-year-old Belichick was introduced as the head football coach at North Carolina, an almost surreal move that has taken the college football and sports world by storm.
As for Saban, the college football legend appeared on Friday’s edition of “The Pat McAfee Show” on ESPN and gave his thoughts on Belichick’s decision to take the North Carolina job.
“I’m happy for Bill. I think he probably wanted a new challenge and this is certainly going to be a great challenge for him. North Carolina is a great academic institution, as well as they’ve got plenty of athletic tradition there in basketball and football. And Bill’s a great coach.”
Saban spoke of the biggest challenges awaiting Belichick in Chapel Hill. To no surprise, recruiting was at the top of the list.
“The difference in college is, how do you bring guys to the team? It’s different drafting guys than having to recruit them because recruiting is like full-time relationship-building 365 days a year in terms of not only evaluating a player that you want, but creating relationships with them to get them. Now, everybody says it’s like the NFL because they’re making money now, but it still takes you to be able to sell them that you’re going to be able to develop them.
“I think Bill will be able to do that, but I think the biggest thing that will be a challenge for him is the time that you have to spend recruiting. Making phone calls, talking to parents and all those types of things to get the players that you need.”
Saban also reiterated his stance on NIL and said that he was in favor of college athletes being paid, even if he disagrees with the current system in place that allows for those payments.
“Having the resources is important to be able to pay them and I’m glad that the players get paid. I’m not crazy about the system that they’re getting paid in and I hope we can get that fixed, but I do think that Bill will do a great job there of getting good players, and he’ll do a great job of developing those players. The biggest adjustment for him will be the time spent recruiting.”
For more coverage of Belichick’s move to North Carolina, visit our friends at Tar Heels Wire.
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