Paul Finebaum believes Bill Belichick should ‘seriously consider retirement’
Published:
Paul Finebaum got the jump on Bill Belichick on Friday morning, unleashing on the North Carolina head coach hours before Belichick faced reporters at ACC Kickoff in Charlotte.
Belichick’s 18-minute session with reporters touched on a number of topics as the 8-time Super Bowl-winning coach aims to turn a nightmarish Year 1 in Chapel Hill into a much better state of affairs this fall. North Carolina limped to a 4-8 record as Belichick tried his hand at the college game last fall after winning 2 Super Bowls as an assistant with the New York Giants and 6 more as the head coach of the New England Patriots.
It was a forgettable first season in Chapel Hill for Belichick, and Finebaum simply believes that Belichick should forget about coaching — for good. The ESPN college football analyst performed an unforgettable rant during his appearance on ESPN’s Get Up, no doubt mindful of the fact that Belichick would be previewing Year 2 of his regime later Friday at ACC Kickoff.
“Ending like he is going to end is really embarrassing and sad and, in many ways, pathetic,” Finebaum said. “This didn’t have to happen. He only took this job because he was bitter he couldn’t get an NFL job. He chose the wrong place … he should seriously consider retirement.”
It was a fiery opening salvo from Finebaum on the very day that Belichick was launching his second season with that long media session with reporters in Charlotte. Belichick’s Tar Heels will open the 2026 season on Aug. 29 against TCU in far away Dublin, Ireland, playing in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic.
The noon ET kickoff will be televised on ESPN, the very same network that Finebaum was on Friday morning while directing his harsh words toward Belichick. The legendary NFL coach will be far from retirement that day in Ireland as he begins his second season at North Carolina.
Finebaum comments aside, Belichick is still coaching North Carolina, and he’ll be trying to point the Tar Heels in the right direction toward College Football Playoff contention. Here is what the Kalshi market currently thinks of the top teams in the mix for those 12 Playoff spots in December:
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
