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    What Bill Belichick can learn from Deion Sanders as a college football coach

    Brent Schrotenboer, USA TODAY
    ·
    7 min read

    Deion Sanders and Bill Belichick came to college football as experimental coaches of sorts — sports legends who had made their names in the NFL but had no college coaching experience.

    Each now is among 10 college coaches nationally making $10 million per year . Both brought family to their jobs. Both have been pursued by documentary filmmakers . And both have high-profile younger girlfriends .

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    But each has taken a different approach that’s led to different results. Belichick has flopped at North Carolina so far, while Sanders parlayed his first two seasons at Colorado into a new five-year, $53 million contract in March . Sanders’ team is 3-4 this year after finishing 9-4 in 2024. But his program has been built on big stars, big moments and mostly favorable media coverage, unlike how Belichick’s tenure at North Carolina has been perceived during its small sample size of just five games.

    Here’s how one has made it work and one has not so far, both on the field and in the court of public opinion.

    In-depth: Colorado is paying big bucks for Deion Sanders and his players, but how? Answer is ‘TBD’

    Bringing family to the job

    After starting his college coaching career with success at Jackson State, Sanders brought all three of his sons to Colorado — one as starting quarterback ( Shedeur ), one as starting safety ( Shilo ) and one as the team’s video marketing ace to boost recruiting (Deion Jr.) All performed well in their roles and helped lead Colorado to a bowl game last year — a huge improvement from when the Buffaloes finished 1-11 in 2022, before Sanders arrived.

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    By contrast, Belichick hired his sons Steve and Brian as the team’s defensive coordinator and defensive backs coach. A little nepotism can be overlooked when you’re doing the job and winning, not when your defense ranks 77 th nationally in total yards per game allowed and 107 th nationally in pass efficiency defense, as North Carolina’s does this week.

    CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 01: Head coach Sonny Dykes (L) of the TCU Horned Frogs and head coach Bill Belichick of the North Carolina Tar Heels shake hands following their game at Kenan Stadium on September 01, 2025 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The TCU Horned Frogs defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 48-14. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
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    Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick struggling early on as North Carolina football coach

    CHAPEL HILL, NORTH CAROLINA - SEPTEMBER 01: Head coach Sonny Dykes (L) of the TCU Horned Frogs and head coach Bill Belichick of the North Carolina Tar Heels shake hands following their game at Kenan Stadium on September 01, 2025 in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. The TCU Horned Frogs defeated the North Carolina Tar Heels 48-14. (Photo by Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)

    Girlfriends in the public eye

    Belichick is 73 and his girlfriend Jordon Hudson is 24. Sanders is 58 and his apparent girlfriend Karrueche Tran is 37. All are adults, and their relationships are nobody’s business except theirs. But when these relationships are brought into the public eye by their own choosing, it shapes public perception about them, fairly or not.

    In April, Hudson interrupted a national television interview with Belichick to shoot down a question about their relationship. Belichick also has asked UNC staff to copy her on emails sent to him and was photographed holding hands with her in Nantucket a few days after a 34-9 loss at Central Florida.

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    What’s wrong with any of that anyway? Nothing really. But it has spiraled into a public sideshow at North Carolina, adding to the public-relations challenges there at a time when the football program is perceived to be dysfunctional.

    By contrast, Sanders has avoided that. His relationship with Tran, an actress, has been publicly low-key. She’s appeared at his side at the hospital during his cancer ordeal in May and then again for his blood-clot surgery Oct. 7, as shown on videos posted by Deion Jr. since July.

    Their reality shows on campus

    Sanders is a walking reality show in his own right. He wants the cameras around him almost all the time to help market his program and himself for his sponsors. Cameras have been a nearly constant presence since he arrived in Boulder in December 2022, including for two seasons of the “Coach Prime” documentary series on Amazon Prime Video. Sanders and his management team had control over the project and didn’t stop production during his first season when the Buffaloes finished 4-8. A new Netflix show on Sanders also is on the way. Sanders welcomes this attention because he knows how beneficial it is for him and his program even when his team isn’t very good.

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    By contrast, difficulties have emerged with efforts to film what’s going on in Chapel Hill with Belichick, who is not exactly known to be camera-friendly. A deal to feature North Carolina’s football program on HBO’s “Hard Knocks” series was scuttled by Hudson, according to a report by The Athletic . Another docuseries about Belichick’s program by Hulu also was scrapped, according to recent reports . Belichick said Monday it’s “ still a work in progress .”

    Handling the hate-watchers

    Both have large followings of hate-watchers who love to see them fail. Both also can seem thin-skinned in response to criticism and perceived slights . Colorado even banned questions from a reporter who wrote articles Sanders didn’t like . But Sanders vivaciously engages cameras and news conferences in ways Belichick does not. He even opens up about his health issues . This helps make him more likeable even when he’s snippy. By contrast, Belichick is known for his stoicism and saying as little as possible in news conferences.

    Which way is more likely to buy you goodwill and patience when your team is in a funk?

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    Their honeymoon phases

    Every new coach has a honeymoon phase — a time of newlywed love not to be overcome by rain clouds early in the marriage. In Sanders’ case, he started with such a bang at Colorado in 2023 — an improbable 3-0 start — it still buys him goodwill to this day, almost like he proved what he can do already and just needs to sustain it now. Because of that and his 9-4 season last year, he’s arguably still in the honeymoon phase with much of the Colorado fan base.

    By contrast, Belichick is 2-3 after opening with a 48-14 loss to TCU Sept. 1 . He has lost three games to Power Four opponents by at least 25 points each . The honeymoon is over already and even has led to speculation recently Belichick and North Carolina might soon part ways. He denied it on Monday .

    Their player 'luggage'

    On the day his hiring was announced at Colorado, Sanders said he was bringing his own Louis Vuitton player luggage with him to Colorado. And he did, including his son Shedeur, now with the Cleveland Browns , and Travis Hunter , who won the Heisman Trophy last year.

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    Players of that caliber are missing at North Carolina so far under Belichick, whose NFL reputation was supposed to be a magnet for star transfers and recruits. At quarterback, Belichick brought in South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez, who struggled this season before getting injured. Belichick also signed top quarterback recruit Bryce Baker, who hasn’t played as a freshman.

    Like Sanders, Belichick relied on the transfer portal to overhaul his roster with dozens of new players. His first transfer class in 2025 was ranked No. 9 nationally by 247Sports. Sanders’ first transfer class in 2023 was ranked No. 1, including Shedeur and Hunter.

    Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes walks the sideline during the first quarter against the Wyoming Cowboys at Folsom Field on Sept. 20, 2025 in Boulder, Colo.
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    See Deion Sanders' 'Prime Time' career in football, baseball and coaching

    Head coach Deion Sanders of the Colorado Buffaloes walks the sideline during the first quarter against the Wyoming Cowboys at Folsom Field on Sept. 20, 2025 in Boulder, Colo.

    Sizing up their prior success

    Prior success has built both into football legends. Belichick won six Super Bowls with the New England Patriots . Sanders is a Pro Football Hall of Famer who also played Major League Baseball.

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    But any failures in college coaching can lead to questions about how good they really are and how they got there.

    Belichick is now subject to debate about whether his prior success is due to himself or former Patriots quarterback Tom Brady . Sanders’ prior success came mostly from his own athletic ability, in football and baseball. His foray into coaching is perceived as a third act to that, unlike with Belichick, who had to tamp down speculation he wants to bail from his college job already.

    “Some of the reports out last week about my looking for a buyout and trying to leave here and all that is categorically false,” Belichick said at a news conference Monday.

    The story continues in the meantime for both.

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    North Carolina is coming off a bye week to play at California on Friday night.

    Colorado is entering a bye week and next plays at Utah on Oct. 25.

    Follow reporter Brent Schrotenboer @Schrotenboer . Email: bschrotenb@usatoday.com

    This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: How coach Deion Sanders has succeeded while Bill Belichick has not

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