Why Skeptics Are Wrong About Belichick's Culture-Building Abilities

It seems like everyone has an opinion on North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick, and to be fair, there is no coach right now that’s as polarizing as the six-time Super Bowl champion.

Despite this, there are still people that are questioning the Tar Heels’ move to hire Belichick, including Fox Sports host Colin Cowherd. While Cowherd has a lot of respect for Belichick, he still questions whether or not Belichick has still got it. A big issue for Cowherd is how Belichick could grow frustrated, or even disengaged.

This follows former quarterback Tom Brady's comments on the learning curve awaiting his former coach as Cowherd believes the legendary 73-year-old coach could struggle with the challenges of coaching younger, less developed players than the ones he coached in the NFL.

"I think the challenge for him is, he's dealing with a lot of probably underdeveloped players because he's dealt with guys that are four or five, six years further along than what he's normally had to deal with," Brady said on the Joel Klatt Show. "So I think there's probably a learning curve for him. This is me hypothesizing. It's not, you know, I don't have much knowledge of it but I'm sure it's different coaching a 17- or 18-year-old than even a 22- or 23-year-old."

Cowherd had several points that were noteworthy and we have to bring back one of his favorite segments: where Colin was right and where Colin was wrong.

Hopefully, this is the last time we do so (probably not).

Where Colin was Right

UNC — 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. | Jerry Lai-Imagn Images

Cowherd raised a legitimate concern: whether a coach is taking the right job, especially when interference from administrators and boosters is involved.

“So that’s my question with Belichick: Will his brilliance be muted?,” Cowherd said. “Elon Musk, as a genius, needs the freedom to be a genius. You put him in a rigid corporate setting, he’d be the smartest guy at IBM—and he’d go crazy."

"Jeff Bezos at Amazon didn’t even make a profit for the first 20, 21 years. He needed the freedom to explore. The late architect Frank Lloyd Wright—you don’t want him building DMV buildings. Sometimes the greater the intellect, they’re mavericks. They’re risk takers because they have so much confidence in their ability.”

Cowherd is right because Belichick, like Musk, Bezos, and Wright, thrived precisely because he operated outside of the norm. His two-decade run in New England was not just about X’s and O’s, but about building a culture based on the mantra “do your job” where he dictated everything from the structure, personnel decisions, and even how players handled the media. That level of control allowed his genius to flourish.

The administration and boosters need to let Belichick’s vision take place as you do not want to dull the very creativity that made him great. Visionaries don’t fit neatly into bureaucracies—they bend systems to their will. Belichick’s brilliance lies in seeing football differently, in creating edges others miss.

Another major concern is how Belichick will handle working with college students instead of professionals. While NFL stars are capable of making poor decisions, the likelihood increases significantly with college athletes.

"Belichick is a brilliant football coach, but man, I got six kids in my life. At 19 years old, they make weird choices. They can frustrate you, especially as you age."

It will be very interesting to see how Belichick handles those types of situations, but he seems to be enjoying coaching some of the younger athletes.

Where Colin was Wrong

One area where Cowherd misses the mark is his view that Belichick is solely a scheme expert, rather than also a culture setter and recruiter.

“Jimmy Johnson, Pete Carroll and Jim Harbaugh were great college coaches and great pro coaches. The reason is simple: they could recruit,” Cowherd said. “Their personalities allowed them to be culture setters, tone setters. They’re walk-around guys more than just scheme guys. Kyle Shanahan, Andy Reid and Sean Payton are scheme guys. I don’t think they’d like recruiting. They’d prefer sitting in a room and figuring out plays. I don’t think they’d be as successful in college. And I love Payton, Reid and Shanahan, but Shanahan would have no interest in boosters or an athletic director. Kyle wouldn’t want to recruit much.”

For starters, Belichick can recruit as he has a Top 20 recruiting class and just recently gained a commitment from four-star athlete CJ Sadler, who is the No. 1 player from the state of Michigan and No. 85 nationally. Also, the Tar Heels have flipped recruits from several programs of note.

It isn’t talked about enough how elite North Carolina has been recruiting 🐏

This cycle they’ve flipped recruits from:

• Ohio State
• Oregon
• Texas A&M
• Oklahoma
• Tennessee

Also have Elite 11 QB Travis Burgess & No. 6 ATH CJ Sadler committedhttps://t.co/Ke1xxc80cl pic.twitter.com/ONOiPwrLHD
— Hayes Fawcett (@Hayesfawcett3) August 15, 2025

Second, Belichick is a culture and tone setter. Just as he installed the "Patriot Way" and "Do Your Job" mentalities in New England, he is doing the same at Chapel Hill. Several former Patriots assistants are on the staff, including his sons Brian and Steve, who serve as defensive backs coach and defensive coordinator, respectively.

Players have noticed the impact as well, embracing the motto T.S.D., for "Tough, Smart and Dependable." It is also noteworthy that Belichick's former strength and conditioning coach, Moses Cabrera, joined the staff, and players have already reported improvements in their bodies and conditioning.

Just because he isn’t a "rah-rah" type like Carroll, Harbaugh or Johnson doesn’t mean he can’t build a culture. Nick Saban wasn’t a rah-rah coach either, but his players bought into the culture he was selling them.

Finally, you can still have success while still being known as a play-schemer because LaVell Edwards, Mike Leach and Steve Spurrier would like to have a word.

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