Leaving UW Didn't Go Well for Young Belichick

Had it worked out for him, and certainly there were no guarantees, Steve Belichick would be in his third season as the University of Washington defensive coordinator.

Had he been able to climb out from under his father's considerable coaching shadow, young Belichick might have stayed in Montlake on Jedd Fisch's staff and independently forged his own identity.

Yet the dutiful son elected to follow Bill Belichick, one of the most successful coaches in NFL history, to North Carolina to become dad's defensive leader -- and lasted one forgettable season.

On Thursday, amid a school investigation looking into the conduct of people associated with the Tar Heels football program and finding some breeches, Steve Belichick resigned from his father's staff after beginning the current season on medical leave.

His departure comes exactly two weeks following the resignation of Michael Lombardi as the Tar Heels' well-compensated general manager.

Steve Belichick now finds his football coaching future in great jeopardy.

Here’s @TheAthletic’s story on Steve Belichick resigning after investigation finds ‘certain actions’ by UNC football disregarded standards. Reporting with @BrendanRMarks:
Free link: https://t.co/blhwwgduWM
— Bruce Feldman (@BruceFeldmanCFB) September 17, 2026

Yet the question persists: was this second-generation Belichick really anything more than the entitled son of a prominent pro football figurehead?

The UW gave him a chance to show otherwise after he spent a dozen seasons working for the New England Patriots in various coaching roles and answering to his father all along.

With Bill Belichick out of football in 2024, Steve Belichick became Fisch's Husky defensive coordinator. It was his first big job. A chance to break away from the family lineage. Major responsibility.

All three of those men worked together for the Patriots in 2020 before Fisch, who was the quarterbacks coach, left to take his first head-coaching position at Arizona.

Young Belichick will be remembered for often standing behind the Husky defense and observing from a great distance rather than being hands-on, at times in deep discussion with his father, a frequent practice visitor.

In media exchanges, he shrugged a lot and didn't have a lot to say, leaving him as something of a mysterious coaching presence.

UNC confirms and considers the internal investigation resolved: “The investigation determined that certain actions demonstrated a disregard for Carolina’s values and standards of conduct. The investigation also found that these
actions were isolated in scope and not a systemic… https://t.co/CDS8Anj5rj
— Pete Thamel (@PeteThamel) September 17, 2026

While the Huskies clearly were in a rebuilding mode that season, Belichick oversaw a defense that generously gave up 31 points to Indiana, 35 to Penn State and Louisville, 40 to Iowa and 49 to Oregon for a 6-7 team.

In his lone season with North Carolina, during another agonizing program rebuild that produced a 4-8 team, he watched his defense allow 32 points to Duke, 34 to UCF, 38 to Clemson, 42 to North Carolina State and 48 to TCU.

Maybe Steve Belichick wasn't cut out for the life of a college defensive coordinator. Yet coast to coast, he had plenty of opportunities to make that job title his calling card, including in Seattle.

Add us as a preferred source on Google