ESPN compiled an exhaustive list of the best teams and players from the first quarter century. Bill Belichick, the new head coach of the UNC football program and leader of the New England Patriots from 2000-2023, was selected as the NFL All Quarter Century Team head coach.

Belichick’s bona fides are undisputed. During his stint in New England, he made nine Super Bowl appearances, winning six of them, the most of any head coach in NFL history. Andy Reid is the only active coach with a chance to catch him with three titles, but he’s already 67 years old and is one cheeseburger away from a triple bypass.

Belichick gets credit for getting six of his players named to the All Quarter Century Team as well. Belichick had become synonymous with Tom Brady, widely regarded as the greatest NFL quarterback of all time. Brady changed the trajectory of Belichick’s career, taking over for Drew Bledsoe in 2001 and helping him win his first Super Bowl against the (then) St. Louis Rams.

Randy Moss and Rob Gronkowski were some of the most explosive receivers in the NFL during their stints in Boston, Moss as a vertical threat who made “Getting Moss’d” a part of football vernacular, and Big Gronk as a pass-gobbling tight end with a gigantic touchdown bomb celebration.

Vince Wolfolk ate double-teams on every single snap and still dominated games as a nose tackle. Darrelle Revis made the team largely on the back of his work with the New York Jets, but in his lone season with Belichick, he helped the Patriots win Super Bowl XLIX against Seattle. Matthew Slater, a special teams ace, spent his entire career with Bill Belichick in New England, and won three Super Bowls.

Bill Belichick gets credit from ESPN not only for his unmatched postseason success, but the manner in which he achieved it. He vacillated between having defensively stout teams (his 2001 team stopped the “Greatest Show on Turf” Rams team), to some of the best offensive teams in NFL history (the New York Giants robbing the Brady/Moss duo from an undefeated season acutely stings here), then back to a defensively focused team in Super Bowl LIII, the lowest-scoring Super Bowl ever.

Belichick’s ability to win in different ways as the game evolved over 20+ years is a testament to his deep understanding of football at the highest level, and his flexibility in executing various game plans as players came and went. This should benefit UNC as it navigates its way through the transfer portal era and all of the uncertainty that comes along with it.

Congratulations to Coach Belichick for making ESPN’s NFL All Quarter Century Team!