Bill Belichick came to UNC on a $10 million per year contract with a simple aim: turn the Tar Heels into an NFL program. That meant that the new head coach wanted to instill the same level of structure and discipline he had overseen at New England. But beyond that, he is also showing a different side to his players. This is something his former Patriots players didn’t get to see.

“His office is on the floor where we’re all at, and he has an open door, and you can walk in whenever you want,” UNC’s defensive lineman, Melkart Abou-Jaoude, said on the August 6 ACC Digital Network podcast. “I don’t know how many other head coaches do that. But as I walk past his office, I’ll see him in there, and I could just walk in and ask him questions about football, questions about life, and watch film with him.” 

It’s not just Melkart Abou-Jaoude, who attested to Belichick’s open-door policy. His teammate and WR Jordan Shipp also echoed this sentiment during the interview. The returning WR went up a notch and shared his elation about being coached by football’s GOAT.

“Not too many places you can watch film with the greatest coach of all time, one of the greatest football minds of all time,” Shipp said.

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At the Patriots, Belichick had separate coaching philosophies for different sets of players. He would criticize even star players like Tom Brady to reinforce accountability. That was done to ensure that everyone understands the message. If Brady isn’t off-limits, no one’s off limits. At the same time, he also took it easy with some other players.

Lawrence Taylor got this style of coaching from Belichick when he was at the Giants. Belichick recognized LT as a generational talent who responded poorly to micromanagement. At the same time, he would hand Taylor the game plan and challenge him to “ruin” those plays. And like magic, LT most often executed them brilliantly. The same was true for Randy Moss.

Instead of imposing his requirements on Moss, he treated him as a receiver coach on the field. Just like Taylor, Moss also shone as he produced one of the greatest receiving performances in the 2007 season. This flexibility didn’t lower Belichick’s standards; it raised execution. Because if anyone knows about his Pats’ tenure, it included wet-ball and weather drills and even unscripted situational periods of play to test players’ reactions to adversity. That’s what Belichick is trying to do at UNC.

“Everything we do, we do it with intention,” Jordan Shipp said. ”Before we do a drill, he’ll show guys in the league how to do it. He’ll show Brady doing it. He’ll show Julian Edelman doing it. You’re seeing Gronk go through drills that we’re going to go through in 20 minutes, and it’s like, ‘Obviously it works.’”

In all, Belichick knows that college football development is entirely different. Players are still mostly teenagers and require a different approach to their development. So, it seems the 8-time Super Bowl champion is doing what he did best at the Patriots: adapting to the demands of the environment.