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North Carolina’s Providence Day School is used to seeing the biggest names in college football roam its halls.

In the 2024 class, the school’s starting quarterback signed with Michigan. This cycle, one of its offensive tackles is the nation’s No. 7 overall recruit and will play at Tennessee in the fall. Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, South Carolina’s Shane Beamer and Virginia Tech’s Brent Pry have all made visits to campus in the past month.

But there was something different about the morning of Jan. 7.

From the parade of coaches in their polos, quarter-zips and Air Force 1s, one coach stood out. Bill Belichick, winner of eight Super Bowls and renowned for his makeshift sleeveless hoodies, was the first coach any player had seen show up wearing a suit and square-toed dress shoes.

“The jacket and tie he wore was different — I got a lot of funny comments on Twitter about that,” offensive tackle Leo Delaney, ESPN’s No. 62 recruit in the 2026 class, told ESPN. “But I think that represents the style of his recruiting and coaching. It’s formal. It’s straightforward. It’s old-school. He’s exactly how you expect him to be.”

If Belichick’s arrival at North Carolina represents one of college football’s most fascinating stories in 2025, the first chapter has been written on the recruiting trail over the past 54 days. And it has offered insight into an overhauled Tar Heels program and early answers to a central question surrounding Belichick’s hiring: How will a 72-year-old who has coached in the NFL since 1975 deal with recruiting teenagers for the first time?

Belichick inherited a recruiting class in tatters upon landing at North Carolina on Dec. 12. Less than two months later, his remade class enters Wednesday’s national signing day at No. 48 in ESPN’s class rankings, up from its place outside the top 75 in late November, when the school fired Mack Brown. Since Dec. 20, Belichick’s staff has added 15 pledges to the program’s 2025 class. The class is headlined by ESPN 300 quarterback Bryce Baker.

North Carolina has also built a modest transfer portal class of 18 additions for Belichick’s debut season, highlighted by Thaddeus Dixon (Washington), Daniel King (Troy) and Pryce Yates (Connecticut). Meanwhile, the Tar Heels managed to retain a number of starters who initially entered the portal this offseason with linebacker Amare Campbell and offensive linemen Austin Blaske and Aidan Banfield among the team’s key returnees.

Belichick might seem like an unlikely recruiter. But he’s leaning into an unmatched strength and delivering a clear pitch on the trail.

“The focus with this new staff is on preparing everything for the next level,” North Carolina quarterback commit Au’Tori Newkirk said. “Everything is being run like it’s the next level. The motto is that we’re going to be the 33rd team in the NFL.”

The full extent of Belichick and his staff’s ability to recruit, identify talent and construct a roster at the college level will be better measured in the 2026 cycle and beyond. But Belichick’s immediate recruiting appeal has been evident, built on decades of NFL success and a clear plan for what he intends to build in Chapel Hill.

“The opportunity to play for Bill Belichick? It’s hard to pass up,” said defensive tackle commit Nicco Maggio, a former Wake Forest signee who committed to the Tar Heels on Jan. 24.


BELICHICK MADE NORTH Carolina’s Rolesville High School — home to four-star ESPN Junior 300 defensive end and former Tar Heels pledge Zavion Griffin-Haynes — his first official stop as a college coach on Jan. 6, kicking off an initial sprint across North Carolina, with other recruiting trips to New Jersey, Massachusetts, Maryland and Tennessee.

During the 90 minutes in the office of Rolesville coach Ranier Rackley, Belichick broke down Griffin-Haynes’ film, offered the same pass-rush pointers he used to coach Hall of Famer Lawrence Taylor with the New York Giants in the 1980s and detailed a multiyear plan for Griffin-Haynes’ future at North Carolina.

“He told Zavion straight up: You’re going to college, but you’re an NFL player,” Rackley said. “I see you as a first-rounder already based on who you are and what you bring to the table.”

Rackley was recruited by Brown during the coach’s first run at North Carolina, which ran from 1988 to 1997. When Brown returned to the school in 2019, Rackley built a strong relationship with a Tar Heels staff that based its recruiting pitch on the program’s family atmosphere. It’s different now.

“This staff has been in the NFL,” he said. “Going through the building a few weeks ago, you can just tell it’s a different feel there. It’s more structured in the sense of what they’re trying to do there, and they needed that.”

In his introductory news conference, Belichick outlined the “pro program” he planned to implement, a regimen geared to the NFL in everything from training to development to technique and verbiage. On Jan. 28, he carried the same message with him into the living room of five-star 2026 quarterback Jared Curtis.

“They’re bringing their NFL playbook to North Carolina,” said Curtis, ESPN’s No. 4 overall prospect in the 2026 cycle. “It’s going to be the exact same as the NFL, and it’s the place you’re going to go to get prepared for the league.”

Before three-star 2025 running back Joseph Troupe — a one-time Temple pledge — committed to North Carolina on Jan. 26, he spent a weekend with the program. One theme was threaded through meetings with Belichick, running backs coach Natrone Means and general manager Michael Lombardi.

“I couldn’t believe how often they talked about development throughout the visit,” Troupe said. “This staff has gotten to experience what I want to experience. If you want to be the best, why not learn from the best?”

Among Belichick’s still-to-be-completed coaching staff, offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, and assistants Matt Lombardi, Garrick McGee, Billy Miller and Mike Priefer have all spent time coaching in the NFL. Strength and conditioning coach Moses Cabrera joined the UNC program last month after working with the Patriots from 2011 to 2023.

Michael Lombardi spent nearly 30 years working in NFL front offices, then went into media work before joining Belichick to lead the Tar Heels’ player personnel operation.

“[Michael] Lombardi was the first contact I got from North Carolina,” Maggio said. “My dad realized who he was after the call and said he used to watch him on TV for fantasy football advice. That made you realize how crazy all this is.”

The Tar Heels were able to fill out their 2025 class by plucking a series of late-cycle commitments, including Maggio and two other Wake Forest recruits who moved on after Dave Clawson’s retirement in December. Three-star defensive end Chinedu Onyeagoro, an SMU signee who parted ways with the Mustangs, marks another intriguing addition. In the 2026 class, North Carolina has already secured four commitments since Belichick’s arrival.

Programs across the state are feeling a stronger presence from the Tar Heels. And among the class of 2026, Belichick’s arrival has stoked renewed interest from top in-state recruits, such as Delaney, who were not previously considering the program.

“I honestly felt like North Carolina wasn’t home for me under the previous staff,” Delaney said. “But I’m excited to take a deeper look at them now. Everyone knows when he walks in the door that you’re looking at one of the greatest to ever do it.”

Of course, North Carolina is not the first or only school to sell itself in the mold of an NFL-style program.

From Alabama to Georgia to Ohio State and across the Power 4, coaching staffs market themselves as elite developers of talent, boasting rings and long lists of NFL alumni who have sprouted from their programs to support the claim. The edge North Carolina has on all those other programs in recruiting in 2025, at least until the Tar Heels play a game under their new coach, is Belichick himself.

“It’s Bill,” Griffin-Hayes said. “That separates him from every coach in the country. Being coached by a guy who has been there and done the thing? He can get you where you need to be.”


THE TAR HEELS have hit the trail with vigor in 2025. And Belichick appears to genuinely enjoy the opportunity to drop in on schools to talk football, pepper coaches with questions about their programs and mix with prospects.

“It’s been great to get out on the road and see some of the great high school coaches and programs and players,” Belichick said on “The Pat McAfee Show” on Jan. 24. “Still got a lot more to hit, but it’s been fun connecting with so many people. Some new, some old. It’s been a great process. There’s a lot of really good kids out there.”

However fun it might be, Belichick will face many of the same hurdles Brown was met with from 2019 to 2024, including heavy competition within the state and from nearby programs such as Georgia, Clemson and South Carolina. North Carolina’s lack of history as a consistent winner in football has also dragged recruiting in the past.

Brown initially elevated the Tar Heels’ recruiting, identifying future ACC Rookie of the Year Sam Howell in the 2019 class and signing three consecutive top-20 classes from 2020 to 2022. But of the eight top-100 prospects Brown landed in the 2021 and 2022 classes that ranked 12th and 10th overall, respectively, only one — two-year starting quarterback and first-round NFL draft pick Drake Maye — developed into a significant contributor for the Tar Heels, with six transferring to play elsewhere in 2025.

Belichick will have more resources to work with than Brown did. Under the contract Belichick signed Jan. 23, the football program will have access to $13 million of the $20.5 million schools will be permitted to use for revenue sharing under the prospective House settlement. Salaries for assistant coaches ($10 million) and support staff ($5.3 million) outlined in the deal will keep Belichick and the Tar Heels among the most competitive programs in the recruiting and personnel spaces.

More importantly, in a short span of time, North Carolina has laid the foundation of what it expects its program to be and a clear picture to sell in recruiting.

That plan will be tested next in the 2026 recruiting cycle. The Tar Heels are aiming high, extending offers to a slew of top-100 prospects, including Curtis, fellow top quarterbacks Ryder Lyons and Keisean Henderson, and five-star offensive tackle Immanuel Iheanacho. Within the state, Griffin-Haynes remains one of the Tar Heels’ top targets within a talented local class, which includes 13 recruits inside the ESPN Junior 300. In 2025, North Carolina has already added 2026 commitments from athlete Jaden Jefferson, cornerbacks Justin Lewis and Marcellous Ryan, and running back Crew Davis, while three-star Providence Day quarterback Zaid Lott remains as a holdover from Brown’s tenure.

“There’s a lot of talent in this state right now,” said Edwin Campbell, the head football coach at North Carolina’s Southeast Raleigh High School. “And Belichick has put the state on notice in recruiting.”

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Scheifele plays, scores hours after losing father

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Scheifele plays, scores hours after losing father

DALLAS — Winnipeg Jets center Mark Scheifele scored a goal in his club’s must-win Game 6 of the second-round playoff series at Dallas on Saturday night, hours after the unexpected death of his father.

But he also had the penalty that set up the Stars’ power-play goal in overtime for a 2-1 win that knocked the top-ranked Jets out of the playoffs.

Jets captain Adam Lowry went and got Scheifele out of the box when the game ended.

“We’re a family. Just to let him know that we’re there for him. It’s just an awful day for him,” Lowry said. “You want to give him the strength, you want to get that kill so bad. We just couldn’t do it.”

During the handshake line afterward, Scheifele hugged and talked to just about everyone, with Stars players clearly offering their support to him in a heartwarming moment.

Scheifele scored his fifth goal of the playoffs 5½ minutes into the second period to give the Jets a 1-0 lead. He scored on a short snap shot from just outside the crease after gathering the rebound of a shot by Kyle Connor.

“I just I know we have a great group here. I knew, going in, once we found out the news that he’s going to have a great support group and we’re going to be there for him through the highs and the lows and obviously today was a real low,” defenseman Neal Pionk said of Scheifele. “[We] did everything we could to give him some words of encouragement, [and] for him to play tonight, and play the way he did, is flat out one of the most courageous things we’ve ever seen.”

The game was tied at 1 when Sam Steel, who had already scored for Dallas, was on a break. Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line with 14.8 seconds in regulation. Scheifele and the Jets avoided a penalty shot on the play, but ended up losing on the power play when Thomas Harley scored 1:33 into overtime.

Jets coach Scott Arniel said the news of Brad Scheifele’s passing overnight was difficult for the entire team. The team was told before the optional morning skate.

“On behalf of the Winnipeg Jets family, our condolences to Mark and his family. It rocked us all this morning when we found out,” Arniel said before the game. “Mark will be playing tonight. As he said, that’d be the wishes of his dad. He would have wanted him to play.”

Scheifele was the last Jets player to leave the ice following pregame warmups, and during at least part of the singing of “O Canada,” he had his head bowed and his eyes closed. He took the opening faceoff against Roope Hintz.

“The thing about Mr. Scheifele is he’s part of our family. He’s part of the Jets family. He goes back to 2011 when Mark was first drafted here,” Arniel said. “We have a lot of players that came in around the time that are still here that he’s been a big part of their life, along with their family. So it’s certainly, obviously devastating for Mark, but also for a lot of guys on this team.”

Winnipeg general manager Kevin Cheveldayoff said the organization was doing everything it can to support Scheifele. There was no immediate word on the cause of Brad Scheifele’s death.

The 32-year-old Mark Scheifele finished with 11 points (five goals, six assists) while playing in 11 of the Jets’ 13 games this postseason. He missed Games 6 and 7 of the first-round series against St. Louis with an undisclosed injury after taking a pair of big hits early in Game 5 of that series.

In Game 5 against the Stars on Thursday night, a 4-0 win by Winnipeg that extended the series, Scheifele was sucker-punched by Stars captain Jamie Benn during a late scrum. Benn got a game misconduct penalty and was fined by the NHL the maximum-allowed $5,000 but avoided a suspension.

Scheifele had 87 points (39 goals and 48 assists) in the 82 regular-season games.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Stars win, oust Presidents’ Trophy-winning Jets

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Stars win, oust Presidents' Trophy-winning Jets

DALLAS — Thomas Harley scored on a power play 1:33 into overtime and the Dallas Stars advanced to the Western Conference final for the third season in a row, beating the top-seeded Winnipeg Jets 2-1 in Game 6 on Saturday night.

Mark Scheifele scored for the Jets hours after the unexpected death of his father, but also had a tripping penalty with 14.8 seconds left in regulation that set up Dallas to start overtime with a man advantage.

Sam Steel, who had scored earlier for Dallas, was on a break when Scheifele lunged forward desperately trying to make a play when he tripped up the forward at the blue line. The Stars called a timeout, but missed a shot and had another one blocked before the end of regulation.

The Stars move on to face the Edmonton Oilers in the West final for the second year in a row and will host Game 1. Connor McDavid and his club, which won in six games last year, wrapped up their second-round series with a 1-0 overtime win over Vegas on Wednesday night in Game 5.

Dallas goaltender Jake Oettinger made 22 saves to wrap up his sixth playoff series win over the past three seasons. He made an incredible diving save with 8½ minutes left in regulation, leaning to the right before having to lunge back across his body toward the left post to knock down a shot by Mason Appleton.

Winnipeg goaltender Connor Hellebuyck stopped 19 shots but couldn’t prevent a loss that assured a winless record for his club on the road this postseason. Meanwhile, his final goal allowed continued a magical season for Harley, Dallas’ breakout blueliner who also played for Team Canada this season in the 4 Nations Face-Off.

“Not surprising to the guys in here,” Oettinger said of Harley’s rise to prominence. “We’re very lucky.”

Steel notched his first goal of the playoffs midway through the second period. He shot a long rebound from the top of the right circle, sending the puck into the upper right corner of the net just above Hellebuyck’s glove.

“I’m just disappointed,” Winnipeg captain Adam Lowry said. “We couldn’t get that [penalty] kill for [the fans], and get it back to win in Winnipeg for Game 7. But you know, [I’m] really proud of this group, and the way they handled everything, and the way we fought back. … It just came up short.”

The Jets become the next in a long line of Presidents’ Trophy winners to bow out early. The award, which goes to the NHL’s top regular-season team, was won by the New York Rangers last season before they lost in the Eastern Conference final. Two years ago, the No. 1 seed Boston Bruins lost in the first round to the Florida Panthers.

“We lost to a great team,” Winnipeg coach Scott Arniel said. “We lost to a team that was in our rearview mirror all year long.”

Scheifele’s effort was a focus for Dallas coach Pete DeBoer, who began his postgame media availability by saying what the Jets star forward did in playing Saturday was “courageous,” adding “I’m sure his dad would’ve been really proud of him and what he did.”

For the Stars, it’s off to the NHL’s final four, as the franchise continues to seek its second Stanley Cup title.

“I think we’ve got something special going on. We’re going to have to prove it again,” DeBoer said. “You know, we’ve been to this spot the last two years and haven’t taken the next step, so that’s the challenge.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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Eichel, Knights seek ‘common ground’ on new deal

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Eichel, Knights seek 'common ground' on new deal

As the Vegas Golden Knights absorb being knocked out in the second round of the NHL playoffs by the Edmonton Oilers, they don’t have to wait long before planning for their future. Jack Eichel, who has one season left on his eight-year, $80 million contract, is eligible for an extension beginning July 1.

“He’s one of the top guys in the NHL,” general manager Kelly McCrimmon said. “He’s got great character, great leadership. You see night in, night out what he does for our team, so that will be a really important piece of business for us. We certainly hope to keep Jack in our organization. Jack loves it here, so I would hope we could find common ground.”

Eichel, 28, comes off the best season of his 10-year career, the past four with the Golden Knights. He set career highs with 66 assists and 94 points to go with 28 goals as the center on the team’s top line. He also skated for Team USA in the 4 Nations Face-Off, where his club finished second to Canada.

“Can’t say enough about my teammates and the people in this building and the people that make this organization what it is,” Eichel said. “I’m super proud to be part of this organization and the city and represent the Vegas Golden Knights. Contractually, I think things kind of take care of itself. I’ll just worry about trying to prepare for next season this offseason and go from there.”

Management, which is not known for sitting on its hands, will have other significant decisions to make as well on the team’s direction after the Golden Knights were eliminated in the second round for the second year in a row.

“I like our team,” coach Bruce Cassidy said. “I don’t have a problem with any player in that room. I think every one of them is a great teammate. They care about one another. Are there areas of our game we could complement better? Probably. We’ll evaluate that.

“All the guys that were up, their contracts, they were all good players for us. All good players. No disappointments at all. We’ll probably have to look at areas because we’re not the last team standing. Usually, you think, ‘Where can we upgrade? Where can I upgrade what I do?'”

McCrimmon offered a similar assessment.

“I feel our team was good enough to win,” McCrimmon said.

The Golden Knights won the Stanley Cup two years ago and thought they had another contender this season after capturing the Pacific Division and securing the Western Conference’s second-best record. But Vegas had to rally from a 2-1 series deficit to beat Minnesota in the opening round, winning twice in overtime. Then the Golden Knights lost two overtime games in the 4-1 series loss to the Edmonton Oilers.

“I didn’t walk away from Edmonton saying, ‘We had no chance. They’re just better,'” Cassidy said. “I didn’t feel that way. I felt we needed to execute better in a few of the games and we could be the team moving on.”

Forward William Karlsson said losing to the Oilers made it “a wasted season.” McCrimmon wasn’t as blunt, instead labeling the loss as “a missed opportunity.”

Change will come, but at least given the tenor of the comments by Cassidy and McCrimmon, the Golden Knights will largely return their roster intact next season.

“I think we have a great organization,” goaltender Adin Hill said. “Best management I’ve been under. I think they’re going to do the things that they see fit for [the] roster, whether it’s keeping it the same or whether it’s changing up a few things. I don’t know. That’s their decision, above my paygrade, but it will be exciting to see. We know that we’re going to be contenders every year.”

Forward Reilly Smith made it clear he wants to return. An original Golden Knight, Smith was traded to the Pittsburgh Penguins after winning the Stanley Cup and then sent to the New York Rangers a year later. The Golden Knights reacquired the 34-year-old on March 6.

Smith made a smooth transition back into the lineup with three goals and eight assists in 21 games. Then he delivered the play of the postseason for the Golden Knights, scoring with 0.4 seconds left to beat the Oilers in Game 3, and finished with three goals and an assist in 11 playoff games.

“Probably the best hockey I’ve played in my career has been wearing this jersey,” Smith said. “It’s a fun group to be a part of and a fun place to call home. My family loves it here, so if there’s a way to make it work, it’d be great. At the end of the day, it’s a business. My contract negotiations, I probably know as little as [the media does] right now.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

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