CLEVELAND, Ohio – Bill Belichick’s move to college football was supposed to cement his legacy as the greatest football mind of all time. Instead, it’s becoming an cautionary tale about pride, aging, and knowing your limitations.
In the latest episode of the Terry’s Talkin’ podcast, cleveland.com columnist Terry Pluto delivered an honest assessment after watching North Carolina get dismantled by Clemson.
“This North Carolina situation with Belichick is really turning into a disaster,” Pluto said.
“You know, there’s an old Jewish parable: There’s no fool worse than an old fool. And by that I mean I can speak because I’m 70… If you see me like really slipping or tell me because right now it’s like, I don’t know what’s going on in North Carolina, but they’re ill-prepared.”
The contrast between the preseason hype and current reality couldn’t be more stark.
The arrival of the former Browns coach was billed as turning the Tar Heels into the “33rd NFL Team.” Instead, they look completely outmatched against major competition.
What makes this situation particularly fascinating is how it’s challenging the “Brady vs. Belichick” debate that has followed the coach since Tom Brady’s departure from New England. Pluto said he’s talked to NFL team executives who questioned Belichick’s post-Brady capabilities from the beginning.
“I had a top executive tell me this,” Pluto revealed. “And this was before. That’s right after Brady left. He said, ‘I’m telling you, I’ve worked with this guy and everything. He’s a great coach with Brady, and he’s just another coach without him now.’ ”
The numbers back this up, with Belichick’s record without Brady being considerably less impressive than their dynastic run together.
But beyond the win-loss record, Pluto highlights a more fundamental issue: the mismatch between Belichick’s age, style, and the modern college landscape.
Pluto said: “I had another NFL executive tell me this… ‘Can you see Bill at 73, standing up in front of a bunch of college kids and talking? It’s like it’s your great grandfather.’… And then you throw in the parents being involved like they are now with NIL and everything else, which he never had to worry about with the Patriots. And I heard that’s driving him nuts.
“This isn’t just beat on Belichick,” Pluto added. “I want a bigger theme of, you know, when we’re at different stages of our life… ‘How can I shape this job so that it accents my strengths and frankly, hides my weaknesses?’ That’s as opposed to, ‘I’m in my 70s, let’s take on what I would argue are the hardest football coaching jobs in the country…’ ”
While it’s too early to declare his experiment a complete failure, the early returns suggest a painful reminder that even legendary figures need to understand their limitations – and that pride, as Pluto quoted another proverb, “comes before the fall.”
Here’s the podcast for this week:
If you have a question or a topic you’d like to see included on the podcast, email it to sports@cleveland.com, and put “Terry’s Talkin’” in the subject line.
You can find previous podcasts below.