Colin Cowherd: Illinois Football Would 'House' Bill Belichick and North Carolina

The sports talk personality Cowherd says eight-time Super Bowl winner Belichick's Tar Heels would be out of their depth against the Illini

Feb 1, 2016; San Francisco, CA, USA; Radio personality Colin Cowherd broadcasts on radio row at the Moscone Center in advance of Super Bowl 50 between the Carolina Panthers and the Denver Broncos. Mandatory Credit: Jerry Lai-Imagn Images | Jerry Lai-Imagn Images

Illinois football coach Bret Bielema credits Bill Belichick with a lot of his growth in the profession. Bielema had plenty of success at Wisconsin, and he learned some hard lessons at Arkansas, but he points to his two years working under eight-time Super Bowl winner Belichick with the New England Patriots in the NFL as a seminal period. He even explored a different sort of working relationship at the college level.

But has the student become the master?

That's at least one way to interpret a recent take from sports talk personality Colin Cowherd, who on his "The Herd With Colin Cowherd" podcast discussed some of the hurdles Belichick now faces as the rookie head coach at North Carolina in his first-ever college coaching job.

"He's a grumpy 73-year-old who never really showed any interest in college football at all," Cowherd said of Belichick, who arrived in Chapel Hill last December. "It doesn't exactly scream 'home run hire.' You know, Belichick at Carolina feels like Donald Trump's first term in the White House: I'm not really sure what it's going to look like, but it's going to be interesting. It could get messy."

And where exactly do Bielema and Illinois enter the conversation? Uh, sort of backing in at the end.

Cowherd says Belichick could "coach his way to a lot of wins" in Year 1 at Chapel Hill leading a program that plays a lightweight non-conference schedule and competes in the "God-awful ACC." But he also makes it clear that college football is an enterprise of clear haves and have-nots.

"I think if Belichick was in the SEC or the Big 10, he'd get absolutely rolled," Cowherd said. "He'd get rolled.

"I mean, if you put them against Michigan, Ohio State, USC, Oregon, Washington, they're an eighth-place team [in the conference]. Illinois this year would house them. Illinois is going to be really good."

Bill Belichick at North Carolina will be must-see TV 📺 @colincowherd pic.twitter.com/E03IwPgHmk

— Herd w/Colin Cowherd (@TheHerd) July 17, 2025

A backhanded compliment? Maybe. But the man who survived the desert to stumble into civilization doesn't reach the end of his journey and demand Evian. Illinois fans should take heart that the Illini are back in the national conversation and being mentioned in the same breath as the conference powerhouses that once walked all over them.

And if Bielema, entering his fifth season in Champaign, has anything to say about it, surprise 10-win seasons and backhanded compliments are just the beginning for Illinois.

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