Add this to sentences I never thought I’d be typing — Bill Belichick has accepted the head coaching job at the University of North Carolina.
Despite his age, I’m still pretty surprised that a struggling NFL franchise wasn’t willing to kick the tires on a legend like Belichick, but here we are. Bill’s heading back to school.
I’m sure Belichick will have a lot of learning to do to adapt to the college game, as will the players that he’s coaching. But that said, UNC is now going to be a draw for NFL prospects. The opportunity to play for Belichick and develop your game as an NFL prospect is going to be very attractive to many, which certainly puts the Tar Heels on the map in college football.
So what does this mean for betting markets? Well, with the 2024 College Football Playoff yet to get underway at the time of Belichick’s hiring, it’s a bit early for 2025 futures. That said, the traders at DraftKings Sportsbook have already gone ahead and posted a 2025 win total for UNC — OVER 6.5 wins is juiced to -170, with UNDER 6.5 priced at +130. Another major sportsbook opened the number at 6.5 as well, but has already moved to 7.5. I think that’s an example of how popular betting the Tar Heels will be in 2025, thanks to Belichick.
Consider Colorado these past couple of seasons with Deion Sanders. The Buffs would always have more than 90% of the money on the over on their win total, and shockingly high betting percentages to win the Big 12, make the CFP, and even win the CFP. You can be certain that UNC is going to be one of those long shot public darlings next season.
According to major websites that rank recruiting classes, Carolina ranks right around 90th in terms of their incoming class. Expect Belichick to hit the transfer portal hard in an attempt to bring in talent for 2025, and he should have success doing so.
Belichick is going to be a fascinating storyline in college football in 2025, and while it remains to be seen how much success he’ll have, we can be sure that his program is going to be an extremely public bet in futures markets and throughout the season.
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