Sources – Belichick to add friend Priefer to North Carolina staff

Bill Belichick’s first coaching staff at North Carolina continues to come together.

Longtime NFL special teams coach Mike Priefer and veteran SEC offensive line coach Will Friend are expected to finalize deals to join Belichick’s staff, sources tell ESPN .

After coaching for nearly a decade in college, Priefer started in the NFL in 2002 and served as a special teams coordinator in the NFL from 2006 to 2022. He is noted in Browns history as coach- Chief in a January 2021 wild-card victory against the Pittsburgh Steelers, marking the franchise’s only playoff victory since the 1994 season. Priefer replaced Kevin Stefanski, who watched the home game with COVID.

Priefer was the special teams coordinator for the Chiefs (2006-08), Broncos (2009-10), Vikings (2011-18) and Browns (2019-22). He brings connections to the Naval Academy, something he shares with Belichick and his family. Priefer graduated from the Navy and served as a graduate assistant there.

Friend worked last season as Western Kentucky’s offensive coordinator. He brings strong recruiting ties to the South, having worked at Georgia, Tennessee, Auburn and Mississippi State as an offensive line coach. He also worked as an offensive coordinator at Colorado State and WKU.

Friend has a long history of developing linemen for the NFL.

Along with Priefer and Friend, there are six known members of Belichick’s staff, including longtime NFL coach Freddie Kitchens as offensive coordinator and veteran NFL coach Stephen Belichick as defensive coordinator.

The hires align with the goals of Belichick, who has emphasized that he wants to run the Tar Heels like a professional program.

Before accepting the job at UNC, Belichick told ESPN’s Pat McAfee that if he ran a college program, it would be a “pipeline to the NFL for players with the ability to play in the NFL.”

He added: “It would be a professional program. Training, nutrition, program, coaching, techniques that would transfer to the NFL. It would be an NFL program at the college level and education that would prepare players for their post-football careers.”