
The coaching news has been rather sparse since the hire of Bill Belichick with only Freddie Kitchens being officially named a part of the staff. On Sunday, though, they made a predictable, but quality hire at defensive coordinator.
According to Matt Zenitz of 247Sports, Washington defensive coordinator Stephen Belichick will be leaving the staff following the team’s bowl game and joining his father’s staff in the same role.
In his lone season on the Huskies staff, Belichick took the defense from 99th in total defense to 26th. The Huskies pass defense allowed just 166.8 yards per game this season, the 5th lowest mark in the country, despite not being a great passing rushing unit. The team also took a step forward in terms of points per game, improving from 56th nationally in 2023 to 45th in 2024. The biggest concern about the unit this year was the run defense, which allowed 158.1 yards per game, but with all that this unit had to replace after a run to a national title and a coaching change, this was a promising start to his career as a college coordinator.
Prior to landing in Seattle, Belichick spent the previous eleven years as a member of his dad’s staff, coaching safeties (2016-18), defensive backs (2019) and outside linebackers (2020-23) after initially serving as a defensive assistant when he first started out on the staff. He was a part of three Super Bowl winning staffs in New England and helped one of the better defenses in the league year in and year out.
While it is not a guarantee that Belichick is going to be one of the best coordinators in the country, there is reason to believe he can elevate this Tar Heels defense the way that he did with Washington this year. He will have to prove that his defense can stop the run better and be consistent from week-to-week, but there is a lot of potential for this Tar Heel defense under his direction, especially with his father helping him.
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