When Bill Belichick was introduced as North Carolina's head coach in December, athletic director Bubba Cunningham wore a suit with cutoff sleeves to resemble the former Patriots coach's style. But Cunningham wasn't all-in on Belichick as his wardrobe would've suggested that day, at least during the hiring process.

UNC was initially interested in making Steelers offensive coordinator Arthur Smith its next head coach before a split emerged between key decision-makers on whether to hire Belichick, according to an extensive report from ESPN. In the final weeks of the 2024 season, Cunningham, reportedly with the backing of UNC's chancellor and board of trustees, had made Smith the program's target to replace Mack Brown.

"They were all hopeful they could lure Smith back to Chapel Hill, and then whether it was Belichick or anybody else, it would have been a moot point. Smith is who they wanted," an unnamed source reportedly told ESPN.

While Smith was intrigued by the possibility, he wound up turning down UNC in late November. That opened the door for Belichick's candidacy. In the weeks before UNC's regular-season finale in November, Belichick had told then-Florida senator Marco Rubio that he wanted to coach at Chapel Hill, with the now Secretary of State telling North Carolina senator Thom Tillis of Belichick's interest, ESPN reported.

In the days after Smith's decision to not pursue the UNC job, Cunningham focused on coaches in the college to replace Brown while the school's board of trustees went all-in on Belichick, according to ESPN. As Cunningham reportedly spoke with other candidates, the board of trustees reportedly made Belichick an unofficial offer without the athletic director's or chancellor's approval during a meeting in New York City.

Eventually, Cunningham was on board with the hiring of Belichick, agreeing to the head coach's wishes to spend more money into the football program but didn't agree to make Steve Belichick the "head coach in waiting," ESPN reported.

While Belichick signed on to become UNC's head coach in December, there were several weeks of speculation that he could still leave for the NFL. It was later discovered that the buyout in his contract dropped from $10 million to $1 million after June 1, leading some to wonder if he won't stay in Chapel Hill for long.

But Belichick didn't interview for any of the head coach vacancies in the NFL this offseason, perhaps a sign that he's shut the door on a return to coaching at the professional level.

"I didn't come here to leave," Belichick said at his introductory press conference in December.

After a few months on the job, Belichick was able to get on the practice field with his UNC squad for the first time this week. Wednesday marked the first day of spring practices as he established the tone he wants for his program. Players had no numbers or names on their jerseys when the media was allowed to take a peek into Thursday's practice.

"That's just what we do. We go out there and we earn it," Belichick told reporters of the decision to ditch jersey numbers and names on the practice uniforms. "The numbers and what color gloves we wear, and all that, is not as important as doing your job and being responsible and accountable to your teammates and being a good teammate.

"So, our focus is on the team. We're just all out there, working, practicing, trying to get better. It's coaches, players, all of us. So, it's not all about individual notoriety right now. It's about trying to put together a team."

The first spring practice and Friday's report from ESPN marked what's been a relatively newsy week for Belichick's UNC program. Earlier in the week, it was reported that the deal for the Tar Heels to be featured on the offseason edition of "Hard Knocks" fell through over creative control.