Bill Belichick gets real about losing out on chance to break Don Shula's win record
Bill Belichick surprised many with his decision to join the University of North Carolina as their head coach. With his choice to go to college instead of the NFL, Belichick could potentially miss out on breaking legendary Miami Dolphins coach Don Shula's record for the most wins in league history.
While Shula has 347 wins (regular season and playoffs) to his name, Belichick (333) is merely 15 wins away from breaking that record. Belichick already owns the record for the most playoff wins among NFL coaches with 31. In terms of only regular-season wins, Belichick is 26 wins away from overtaking Shula.
On Monday's episode of the "Pat McAfee Show," the new UNC head coach was asked if he felt bad about the missed opportunity. The former Patriots coach responded:
"It's not about wins. To me, it's about championships. And that's what I want to do - I want to win championships. The wins are great, and you got to win games to win championships. I mean, I get that. But to me, it's about championships, and that's really what I'm most proud of," Belichick told Pat McAfee.
When it comes to championships in the NFL, Belichick truly has no equal. He has eight Super Bowl rings to adorn his hands, six as a head coach. That's two more than the Pittsburgh Steelers' Chuck Noll, who won four.
Why did Bill Belichick decide to jump the NFL ship?
After the Patriots fired Bill Belichick, no team showed real interest in hiring him to their squad. The Falcons did interview him twice, but the talks led to nowhere. And so he busied himself in 2024 with several media gigs.
According to a report by ESPN's Seth Wickersham, his real reason for not trying to get back into the NFL was the fact that he had become "disgusted" by how what the league had turned into.
Another source also said that Belichick joining a college football team was a "big f**k you" to the NFL.
While Bill Belichick was making $20 million at the Patriots during the last year of his contract with the team, he will now be making only $10 million at North Carolina.