- Joined
- May 8, 2002
- Posts
- 1,150,526
- Reaction score
- 59
CHAPEL HILL — Wearing a navy blue sweatshirt and a Carolina blue hat, Bobby Petrino held a few sheets of paper in his left hand and looked down at them occasionally as he barked out instructions and teaching points to UNC football’s group of quarterbacks.
On the first day of spring practice ahead of the second season under Bill Belichick, the Tar Heels started their track toward building a better offense with Petrino, whose track record proves he’s – as his official UNC bio describes him – “one of the nation’s top offensive minds.”
Petrino, 65, joins Belichick’s coaching staff as an offensive coordinator after spending the last two seasons at Arkansas, where he held the same position and wrapped up his time as the interim head coach.
UNC QB OPTIONS: Who will be UNC football starting quarterback? Bill Belichick breaks down 5 options
YEAR 2 WITH BELICHICK: What’s different for Bill Belichick, UNC football entering spring practice 2026?
HALL OF FAME SNUB: Bill Belichick addresses Hall of Fame snub, UNC football focus
Since starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Carroll College in 1983, Petrino has racked up more than 40 years of experience, including 18 as a college head coach. He’ll be tasked with turning around an offense that ranked 16th in the 17-team ACC in points per game (19.3) and struggled across the board, logging 30 or more points once in 12 games and doing so against an FCS program.
By the end of the 2025 season, which ended with UNC posting a 4-8 record, only seven teams finished with fewer touchdowns than the Tar Heels’ 25. Only three – UCLA (24), Wisconsin (19) and Oklahoma State (18) – finished with a worse total than UNC, which was 131st in total offense among 136 FBS teams at the end of the regular season.
“We just weren’t able to get there last year, for a number of reasons. So, this year, we’re much further ahead in that process,” Belichick said during his press conference as he discussed the move to bring Petrino to Chapel Hill.
“Again, Bobby’s got a ton of experience. He’s had great production every place he’s been. I’m excited to work with him. He’s been great to work with and I think he’s got a great grasp of offensive football and certainly familiarity with his system on how to call it and the adjustments that he makes with it and so forth.”
Josh McDaniels spent 18 seasons with Bill Belichick as part of the NFL’s New England Patriots, including 13 as Belichick’s offensive coordinator. The Pats won each of their six Super Bowl titles during that span.
When asked to describe his relationship with Bobby Petrino, Belichick said “it’s probably gonna be similar to the relationship” he had with McDaniels in Massachusetts.
“As an offensive coordinator, they’re calling it, they’re running, but there are certain things that we’re gonna collaborate on and that’s what it’ll be,” Belichick said before adding, “I’ve known Bobby for a long time.
“I think a lot of things that he did are similar to what we did at New England, so the merger of those really is … they’re not the same, but there’s definitely similarities in concepts and so forth. We’ve had a pretty easy time getting on the same page.”
Last season with the Razorbacks, Petrino paced the 19th-ranked offense in the nation at 454.8 yards per game. Arkansas averaged 32.9 points and reached 30 points in eight games.
Now, Petrino will start laying the groundwork with a group of quarterbacks that features redshirt sophomore Au’Tori Newkirk, the lone returner in the group from Belichick’s debut season, a true freshman in Travis Burgess, and three additions via the transfer portal: Billy Edwards Jr. (Wisconsin), Miles O’Neill (Texas A&M), Taron Dickens (Western Carolina).
Petrino’s UNC football contract was posted Friday, March 27. According to the university’s appointment letter, which is dated Jan. 26 and was signed Feb. 16 by Petrino and athletics director Bubba Cunningham, Petrino has a two-year contract that totals $2.35 million.
The longtime coach is set to have a base salary of $1 million in his first year, which runs from Jan. 6, 2026 through Jan. 5, 2027. His second year, which runs from Jan. 6, 2027, through Jan. 5, 2028, totals $1.35 million in base salary. Petrino’s non-salary compensation includes a signing bonus of $10,000, $15,000 in relocation compensation and a courtesy car, with a vehicle allowance of up to $7,500 annually.
Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Bill Belichick discusses UNC football adding Bobby Petrino to coaching staff
Continue reading...
On the first day of spring practice ahead of the second season under Bill Belichick, the Tar Heels started their track toward building a better offense with Petrino, whose track record proves he’s – as his official UNC bio describes him – “one of the nation’s top offensive minds.”
Petrino, 65, joins Belichick’s coaching staff as an offensive coordinator after spending the last two seasons at Arkansas, where he held the same position and wrapped up his time as the interim head coach.
UNC QB OPTIONS: Who will be UNC football starting quarterback? Bill Belichick breaks down 5 options
YEAR 2 WITH BELICHICK: What’s different for Bill Belichick, UNC football entering spring practice 2026?
HALL OF FAME SNUB: Bill Belichick addresses Hall of Fame snub, UNC football focus
Since starting his coaching career as a graduate assistant at Carroll College in 1983, Petrino has racked up more than 40 years of experience, including 18 as a college head coach. He’ll be tasked with turning around an offense that ranked 16th in the 17-team ACC in points per game (19.3) and struggled across the board, logging 30 or more points once in 12 games and doing so against an FCS program.
By the end of the 2025 season, which ended with UNC posting a 4-8 record, only seven teams finished with fewer touchdowns than the Tar Heels’ 25. Only three – UCLA (24), Wisconsin (19) and Oklahoma State (18) – finished with a worse total than UNC, which was 131st in total offense among 136 FBS teams at the end of the regular season.
“We just weren’t able to get there last year, for a number of reasons. So, this year, we’re much further ahead in that process,” Belichick said during his press conference as he discussed the move to bring Petrino to Chapel Hill.
“Again, Bobby’s got a ton of experience. He’s had great production every place he’s been. I’m excited to work with him. He’s been great to work with and I think he’s got a great grasp of offensive football and certainly familiarity with his system on how to call it and the adjustments that he makes with it and so forth.”
Bill Belichick compares relationship with Bobby Petrino to time with Josh McDaniels, New England Patriots offensive coordinator
Josh McDaniels spent 18 seasons with Bill Belichick as part of the NFL’s New England Patriots, including 13 as Belichick’s offensive coordinator. The Pats won each of their six Super Bowl titles during that span.
When asked to describe his relationship with Bobby Petrino, Belichick said “it’s probably gonna be similar to the relationship” he had with McDaniels in Massachusetts.
“As an offensive coordinator, they’re calling it, they’re running, but there are certain things that we’re gonna collaborate on and that’s what it’ll be,” Belichick said before adding, “I’ve known Bobby for a long time.
“I think a lot of things that he did are similar to what we did at New England, so the merger of those really is … they’re not the same, but there’s definitely similarities in concepts and so forth. We’ve had a pretty easy time getting on the same page.”
Last season with the Razorbacks, Petrino paced the 19th-ranked offense in the nation at 454.8 yards per game. Arkansas averaged 32.9 points and reached 30 points in eight games.
Now, Petrino will start laying the groundwork with a group of quarterbacks that features redshirt sophomore Au’Tori Newkirk, the lone returner in the group from Belichick’s debut season, a true freshman in Travis Burgess, and three additions via the transfer portal: Billy Edwards Jr. (Wisconsin), Miles O’Neill (Texas A&M), Taron Dickens (Western Carolina).
Bobby Petrino contract for UNC football
Petrino’s UNC football contract was posted Friday, March 27. According to the university’s appointment letter, which is dated Jan. 26 and was signed Feb. 16 by Petrino and athletics director Bubba Cunningham, Petrino has a two-year contract that totals $2.35 million.
The longtime coach is set to have a base salary of $1 million in his first year, which runs from Jan. 6, 2026 through Jan. 5, 2027. His second year, which runs from Jan. 6, 2027, through Jan. 5, 2028, totals $1.35 million in base salary. Petrino’s non-salary compensation includes a signing bonus of $10,000, $15,000 in relocation compensation and a courtesy car, with a vehicle allowance of up to $7,500 annually.
Rodd Baxley covers North Carolina Tar Heels athletics for The Fayetteville Observer as part of the USA TODAY Network. Follow his ACC coverage on X/Twitter or Bluesky: @RoddBaxley. Got questions regarding UNC? Send them to [email protected].
This article originally appeared on The Fayetteville Observer: Bill Belichick discusses UNC football adding Bobby Petrino to coaching staff
Continue reading...
