Bill Belichick 'always wanted' to give college coaching a try. Now he will at North Carolina

Bill Belichick had just been introduced Thursday as North Carolina's next football coach when chancellor Lee Roberts came armed with a gift: a short-sleeved gray hoodie — a bit of a trademark from Belichick's NFL coaching days — bearing a blue interlocking “NC” logo.

It was the visual confirmation, which will take some getting used to, that the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach whose name became synonymous with NFL success has taken an unexpected first dive into college coaching. He now leads a program at a school with a national name brand but one that has been unable to sustain fleeting pockets of high-level success when it comes to football.

“I've always wanted to coach in college football,” Belichick said during his introductory campus news conference. “It just never really worked out. Had some good years in the NFL, so that was OK. But this is really kind of a dream come true."

Belichick, who met with his new team before the media, certainly seemed at ease Thursday. He bypassed the terse and grumpy responses he became known for during his time with the Patriots — something he joked about as his news conference “aura” during Monday's appearance on ESPN's “The Pat McAfee Show." Instead, he came with a grin and quips, starting when he walked into the room and scanned the large crowd of reporters, former players and others with university ties.