In his capacity as a Columnist for California Sports Lawyer®, Founder and Managing Attorney Jeremy Evans has written a column about UNC's hiring of former NFL head coach Bill Belichick and the impact it will have on college sports.
You can read the full column below.
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Eight-time National Football league (“NFL”) Super Bowl Champion Bill Belichick is now the head football coach for the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (“UNC”). In sports, the university is mostly know for basketball and soccer greats like Michael Jordan, Coach Roy Williams, James Worthy, Vince Carter, Coach Dean Smith, and Mia Hamm. UNC has competed in the Atlantic Coast Conference (“ACC”) since its inception in 1949 and was established as a university in 1789 making it one of the oldest universities in the United States.
Coach Belichick’s move to college sports is a momentous occasion that has sent shockwaves through the sports and entertainment industry. It also signifies an acceptance of the change in the collective profitability in college landscape with former and current NFL coaches seeking college coaching opportunities. Last week’s column discussed the value proposition on buyouts in coaching contracts. Within that question is a larger discussion of the value of private investment in college sports programs.
What private equity investment in college sports signifies is a collegiate sports landscape that does not have salary caps, luxury taxes, collective bargaining agreements, drafts, labor unions, or contracts for its players. College sports are literally becoming professional sports (for football first, and basketball second) without the limitations of professional sports. Coach Belichick and those who coach now or will coach later have the reigns to recruit, spend, and fundraise and not be questioned about football decisions in recruiting players and fielding a team other than in winning, following NCAA rules, and character of their teams. The coaches will be subject to athletic directors, university presidents, and the press in the college setting, but that is a far cry from the unions, team owners, league commissioners, and the press in professional sports leagues.
What coaches will have to contend with is developing high school athletes in college and NFL or National Basketball Association (“NBA”) ready players and citizens of business and life. Coaches will also have to deal with the realignment of college teams and conferences, no contracts to keep players, the transfer portal, and of course the short time frame for college talent (generally four years or less). Coach Belichick’s response on the Pat McAfee show to how his skills would translate from the NFL to the NCAA was perfect. Belichick focused his response on his ability to make college players ready for the NFL for both on-the-field skills and techniques, but also to prepare for life beyond sports. Coach Belichick years of experience will clearly benefit the college environment.
Belichick’s reputation and skills clearly move UNC football into a different stratosphere. There will be a high bar and naysayers will demand early success. There will be high school athletes and college transfer students that want to play for Belichick. There will assistant coaches that will want to work for Belichick. The most akin NFL to NCAA comparison would be a general manager from a small market team all of sudden choosing a large market team with resources. Essentially, taking the Bill James approach in analytics and combining it with a bank full of cash (e.g., Moneyball and Andrew Friedman, Tampa Bay Rays to Los Angeles Dodgers).
In the NCAA context, the budgets are unlimited through the House settlement, private equity, donors, collectives, and name, image, and likeness (“NIL”) deals. College athletes also cannot demand as much as the professionals because of less experience, no labor unions, salary caps, contracts, etc. With the New England Patriots in the NFL, Belichick was able to find talent and make a team work together without the largest budget. He found value and developed players. Of course, Belichick will be without the franchise quarterback in Tom Brady, but again with no restrictions on other items that induces parity in professional sports does not exist in college sports. It is in the margins and technique where Belichick and other coaches with a similar skill set can and should thrive.
All this to say that as long as the NCAA system stays in its new form, the professionalization of college sports will thrive.
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About Jeremy M. Evans:
Jeremy M. Evans is the Chief Entrepreneur Officer, Founder & Managing Attorney at California Sports Lawyer®, representing entertainment, media, and sports clients in contractual, intellectual property, and dealmaking matters. Evans is an award-winning attorney and industry leader based in Los Angeles and Newport Beach, California. He can be reached at Jeremy@CSLlegal.com. www.CSLlegal.com.
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