SWFL reacts to UNC hiring Bill Belichick

The man who preached “Do your job” now has a new job. Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is heading to the college ranks. The six-time Super Bowl champion was hired to be the head coach at the University of North Carolina.

“I’m excited for Belichick to not be vilified and sort of be raised up like Brady was when he went to Tampa,” Thom Popoli said. “You know, everyone loves to hate the winner. But here we loved him.”

Thom Popoli is the owner of Foxsboro Sports Tavern in South Naples. He’s a lifelong Patriots fan and, no surprise, in a place filled with Boston and even Belichick memorabilia, the hire was a talking point.

Daniel Bailey said, “he wants to keep coaching. Maybe he’s bored.”

“He understands football better than I think anybody alive so why not,” Popoli said. “If that’s what he wants to do and they want someone with that strong of a conviction, it should be a good match.”

In an interview with ESPN’s Pat McAfee, Belichick said he would run a college program like a pipeline to the NFL. Now that the 72-year-old is about to hit the recruiting trail. Will his NFL pedigree and vision resonate with high school talent?

“I think it’ll peak kids interest,” First Baptist football head coach Billy Sparacio answered. “I think because of his pro experience you know those top notch kids are going to say hey what can I what little secrets can I get from him? What opportunities will a school like North Carolina provide that maybe some other school maybe framework their program like that. But I think that’s going to boil down to the kid and the fit and all that goes with it.”

Former North Fort Myers High School football star Tre Boston went to North Carolina to play his college ball. He even played against Belichick’s Patriots in the NFL.

“I think how I approached (then North Carolina head coach) Butch Davis back in ’09,” Boston recalled. “You know for me, it was seeing a coach of a NFL caliber in my room, eating dinner with my mother and you’re telling me I can come to your school I can graduate and I know I’m going to the NFL? Oh man, it’s a no brainer. So now you have Bill Belichick, talk about knowing and understanding the game itself.”