Bill Belichick's First NFL Draft As College Football Coach Went Very Poorly

Bill Belichick was a part of dozens of NFL Drafts as a coach in the National Football League.

This year's 2026 NFL Draft was his first official one as the head coach of the University of North Carolina Tar Heels football program. Belichick was technically UNC's head coach during the 2025 NFL Draft, too, though those weren't his players. This year, his players were draft eligible.

It didn't go well.

Belichick was watching the 2026 NFL Draft, hoping to see at least one of his UNC players getting picked - UNC has claimed to be the "33rd" NFL team since Belichick was hired - but it didn't happen.

The North Carolina Tar Heels football program did not end up having a very good 2026 NFL Draft.

Belichick's first official UNC NFL Draft experience went poorly

Belichick and the Tar Heels had exactly zero players drafted.

"None of the players from the first year of the Bill Belichick tenure at Chapel Hill were among the 257 draft picks from the 2026 selection process," PFT wrote.

"None. As in not one. And they arrived in time to take advantage of the transfer portal to find one-year players who would then exit for the NFL. Given that it was too late to put together a strong class of incoming freshmen, they were even more likely to seek and find established players.

"That was the basic problem with the program in 2025. They didn't have enough good players. And it was Lombardi's job to find them."

Things will have to go much better in 2026.

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This story was originally published April 26, 2026 at 1:00 PM.