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ESPN Prepares the Deion Playbook for Belichick

For the past two seasons, Fox executives cashed in by betting on Deion Sanders’ ratings potential. Now ESPN, which has rights to the ACC, will run the same play with Belichick’s Tar Heels.

Bill Belichick
Belichick will likely commercialize Chapel Hill—long a backwater for college football—in the same way that Deion Sanders almost single-handedly resurrected the University of Colorado. Photo: Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images
John Ourand
December 13, 2024

Bubba Cunningham, UNC’s athletic director for the past 13 years, has never been known as one of the more innovative administrators when it comes to the business of college sports. And at first, the prospect of turning UNC’s football program over to an NFL coaching legend—one who has said he plans to turn Chapel Hill into a “pipeline to the NFL”—seemed like a step (or two) too far for him, especially at a $10 million salary. Nevertheless, Bill Belichick was officially named Carolina’s new head football coach today, signing a five-year, $50 million deal.