So North Carolina was considering allowing HBO’s NFL reality series ‘Hard Knocks’ into the inner sanctum of all things Bill Belichick.
The story isn’t that North Carolina and HBO couldn’t come to an agreement.
It’s that Belichick, new Tar Heels coach and king of controlling the narrative, needs ‘Hard Knocks’ more than it needs him.
Player procurement – be it high school or transfer portal recruiting – demands it. In this new college football world where money is king and name recognition is secondary, it’s cash over the flash of Super Bowl rings of years gone by.
And when all things are equal and the money is similar, elite players are flocking to brand name schools. Not North Carolina.
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The fact that someone at North Carolina had sold Belichick on the idea of allowing HBO inside his inner sanctum underscores the critical reality staring back at Belichick.
He’s fighting a losing battle recruiting elite players, because he’s fighting years of rock solid, unwavering DNA within the elite of the sport. Blue blood programs win big, others struggle to keep pace.
Consider this: the last first-time national champion in college football was Florida in 1996. One new first-time national champion spanning nearly three decades and three postseason iterations (Bowl Alliance, Bowl Championship Series, College Football Playoff).
It should come as no surprise then that Belichick’s first recruiting class, limited by a 10-week shotgun start, included all of one player with a national ranking, according to the 247Sports composite.
His transfer portal class was better and finished No.14 in the nation, though the ranking reflected quantity (18 players) as much as quality.
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Want to know why Belichick needs ‘Hard Knocks’? Because Belichick needs something, anything, to sell his program.
He needs a way to reach players in a way no other program can. Pull out your phone, open the app and watch North Carolina football — and how you, too, can be part of something unique.
Belichick needs to reach players on their level, not try to sell them on his. Young people are visual and transactionary.
It’s seeing and believing, and buying and receiving.
It’s easy to see and believe what Georgia, Ohio State, Alabama and Michigan – and many other blue blood programs – are selling. The results are tangible, there’s no vision necessary.
Belichick’s sell to players now is look at my rings, I’ll prepare you for the NFL better than any other coach.
Belichick and his staff are recruiting players who see the NFL as Patrick Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs, not Belichick, Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. Elite players now see college football as a way to earn NIL dollars at blue blood programs on the way to the NFL.
Not a road of development at a program with zero history, suddenly backed by one of the most prolific coaches in NFL history.
Belichick – the most button-up, my-way-or-the-highway, media-unfriendly coach on the planet – never allowed ‘Hard Knocks’ into the New England Patriots bubble. He didn’t need it.
He does now.
Open the doors, and pull back the curtain on practice and meetings and allow the cameras to see and film it all. The tradeoff is worth the risk: a reality show suffocating your every move, for it directly influencing high school and transfer portal players.
Even if ‘Hard Knocks’ wants more access than you’re willing to give. Even if ‘Hard Knocks’ will bring a circus to your meticulously controlled environment.
You win in college football with elite players. It’s a simple formula of stringing together top-five recruiting classes, and finding the right quarterback.
Belichcik has neither, and currently has seven commitments for the class of 2026. None are nationally ranked, and all seven have a three-star rating.
You’re not winning big in college football with three-star players. The sooner Belichick embraces that, the sooner he reaches back out to ‘Hard Knocks’.
He needs them more than they need him.
Matt Hayes is the senior national college football writer for USA TODAY Sports Network. Follow him on X at @MattHayesCFB.