The North Carolina Tar Heels hired Bill Belichick to be their new head coach back in December. Even though he’s yet to coach in a college football game, he’s made several headlines since.
This time, instead of a controversial topic, he’s here for all the right reasons, ones that deal with football.
Specifically, Belichick’s back in good graces because his hand-picked North Carolina commit, quarterback Travis Burgess. The 2026 football recruit committed to North Carolina in May, so well after Belichick got on board. Burgess has drastically improved his optics in the recruiting rankings ever since.
Despite being from Georgia, Belichick managed to land the 6-foot-5, 205-pound quarterback prospect after he and his parents visited Chapel Hill in May and were blown away by the future Hall of Famer’s coaching staff.
Belichick told Burgess that he would “show you why I recruited you,” and he did, by showing him game film from when the QB led his team to a 7A state title. Belichick went through plays with Burgess for an hour, asking him about reads while noting the progress made throughout the season.
The thing is, when Burgess committed to UNC instead of schools like Auburn, he did so as a three-star prospect and the 30th-ranked quarterback in the country, per 247Sports. However, since Burgess had an incredible showing at the Elite 11 Finals in June, Burgess is now a four-star recruit and the 16th-ranked QB in the nation. One coach from the showing said Burgess “Really stood out.”
“He really stood out,” said Elite 11 coach Justin Hoover, who has trained several NFL quarterbacks. “He was a big riser for me.”
Justin Hoover on Travis Burgess
While Burgess won’t arrive on campus until next year, he’ll arrive as a disciplined young man who grew up with a military background. Ultimately, he sounds like a perfect match for coach Belichick.
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