"I'm the rookie of the room": 8X SB champ Bill Belichick raises eyebrows with his bold ACC comment

Former Patriot and 8X Super Bowl champ Bill Belichick will enter his first year as a college football coach in the 2025 season. It is a completely new beginning for the 73-year-old personally, since the format, rules and regulations of pro football and college athletics are a lot different. Despite being a legend of the coaching world, Belichick likes to call himself a rookie, especially when veterans like Dabo Swinney or Nick Saban surround him.

The new UNC head coach had a brief interaction with Rece Davis of ESPN on Thursday, where he shared his opinions on recent changes in college football and how the Tar Heels plan to move forward.

“I'm the rookie of the room,” Belichick said to Davis in a sit-down interview on Thursday. [Timestamp - 41:30]

Belichick was accompanied by Clemson coach Dabo Swinney, who mentioned that he feels like a rookie in the ACC meetings despite being associated with the world of football for over 50 years. He emphasized that he has been learning a lot lately and things are a lot different at the amateur level.

“I'm not as familiar with things as a lot of the coaches, especially like Coach Swinney, you know, he's got way more experience in doing a lot of the things that we do in the ACC than I do way more. So I'm watching him. I'm looking at his programs, great programs.

"I want to try to, you know, copy and do some of the things that he's been very successful with, and understand why he does them. And that makes sense. And then he's turned out a great product, year after year here. So that's, you know, that speaks volumes,” he added.

Bill Belichick will have a major chunk of $20.4 million for the program in 2025

The landmark House vs. NCAA settlement promises a substantial amount to each participating school in the country. According to the settlement, schools will receive $20.4 million to allocate among their programs, which can be used to build the team, contract players and other purposes.

A major chunk of this money will go to the football programs and hence Belichick will have access to more funds heading into a new season. This can be later used for the transfer portal and high school recruiting. Teams have sought more clarity on how these funds can be used, given that there are already NIL collectives and endorsements for players.