Updated with the latest information

Bill Belichick appears to have made his initial significant coaching hire at the University of North Carolina.

And it’s someone quite familiar.

As reported by Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, Tar Heels’ head coach Bill Belichick’s eldest son, Steve Belichick, who is currently the defensive coordinator for Washington, is anticipated to relocate to Chapel Hill after the Huskies’ bowl match against Louisville on December 31. Steve Belichick will take on the same coaching position at UNC as he had at Washington, according to Zenitz.

The expectation of Steve Belichick joining UNC has been discussed among college football insiders, even before the Tar Heels finalized a five-year, $50 million deal with Bill Belichick to replace Mack Brown.

Oliver Connelly from The Guardian reported on December 6 that during the negotiation process, part of Bill Belichick’s deal with North Carolina included Steve Belichick being positioned as the future main coach once his father steps down or exits the program.

Currently, Steve Belichick is in his first year of coaching at the collegiate level as the defensive coordinator under Jedd Fisch at Washington. He has led the Huskies’ defense to a notable improvement compared to the previous year when Kalen DeBoer was the head coach. This season, Washington’s defense is ranked 27th nationally, a significant rise from 99th in 2023, as per ESPN.

Washington’s defense also earned a ranking of 46th in scoring defense (allowing 22.83 points per game) and tied for 52nd in red zone defense (81%) this season.

Now, he faces the challenge of achieving similar success in Chapel Hill, where the Tar Heels’ defense was ranked 12th in the ACC this past season in scoring defense. The announcement of Steve Belichick’s move to UNC also follows the commitment of Washington linebacker transfer Khmori House to play for Bill Belichick and North Carolina.

Before moving to Fisch’s coaching team, Steve Belichick spent 11 seasons with his father on the coaching staff of the New England Patriots, where he held multiple positions focusing on defense from 2012 to 2023. For the last four years in Foxborough, he was the defensive play caller for the Patriots, though he officially did not have the title of defensive coordinator.