Johnathan Walker:North Carolina trustees approve Bill Belichick’s deal ahead of introductory news conference

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North Carolina’s trustees have approved terms of the deal to hire Bill Belichickas the Tar Heels’ new football coach, and the school is set to hold its introductory news conference for the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Thursday afternoon.

The board met in the morning to sign off on the agreement, announced Wednesday night by the school as a five-year deal. Specific terms of that deal have yet to be released.

The board of governors for the state’s public university system is still scheduled to meet Thursday afternoon regarding the hiring as a final logistical step, though that comes after Belichick’s on-campus news conference.

Moving on from the 73-year-old Mack Brown to hire the 72-year-old Belichick means UNC is turning to a coach who has never worked at the college level, yet had incredible success in the NFL alongside quarterback Tom Brady throughout most of his 24-year tenure with the Patriots, which ended last season.

There’s also at least a small family tie to the UNC program for Belichick; his late father, Steve, was an assistant coach for the Tar Heels from 1953-55.

He’s arriving on campus at a time of rapid changes in college athletics, from free player movement through the transfer portal and athletes’ ability to cash in on endorsements to the looming arrival of revenue sharing. And he’s taking over a program that for a school with a national name-brand — particularly as a tradition-rich blueblood in college basketball — has never sustained elite football success in its long history.

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