It sure sounds like Bill Belichick is set to become the next head coach at North Carolina

The college football world is wrapped up in conference championship games today, but against all odds, folks are paying special attention to the North Carolina head coaching vacancy. A hire appears imminent, and the name in line to replace the ousted Mack Brown is just crazy enough to work.

UNC is reportedly engaged with former New England Patriots head coach and six-time Super Bowl champ Bill Belichick to become the program's next steward. A deal would presumably set up his son, current Washington DC Stephen Belichick, as the head coach in waiting; meanwhile, other former Patriots, such as Matt Patricia, would also be primed for a job on the Tar Heels staff.

This is ridiculous, though... right? Belichick is the most accomplished head coach in NFL history and we all know he wants to coach at that level again. What about the Jacksonville Jaguars? The New York Giants? All these incompetent teams with incompetent ownership, desperate for change?

We cannot officially rule out an NFL return yet, but it appears that Belichick is serious about the UNC job — and UNC is serious about Belichick. Tar Heels AD Bubba Cunningham will interview other candidates, but the decision to hire Belichick could be made as soon as Sunday, per Ben Sherman of Inside Carolina.

North Carolina closing in on unexpected hire of Bill Belichick as next head coach

According to Sherman's report, Belichick impressed the UNC search committee earlier in the week with his detailed preparation and vision for bringing a championship to Chapel Hill. What was initially expected to be a courtesy call transformed into a "full-fledged candidacy." Cunningham and Carolina brass met with Belichick in person in New York City this week.

While Sherman refutes the idea of a guaranteed succession plan for Belichick's son, it's clear there is real mutual interest between Belichick and the Tar Heels. Cunningham plans to meet with other candidates who are coaching in championship games on Saturday, such as Iowa State's Matt Campbell, but Belichick has put UNC on the clock as he "entertains other options."

There is mounting pressure in Carolina circles to get a deal across the finish line. The hope is to finalize a new hire on Sunday and introduce the coach to players that evening. Notably, the transfer portal opens on Monday. With such little time to gather intel and meet with other candidates in that timeframe, it sure seems like Belichick is the man in Chapel Hill. That is a wild sentence to type, but all signs point toward Belichick landing in UNC.

Folks will continue to beat the NFL drum, but it's not hard to see how the current pro football landscape might ice out Belichick, who couldn't land a job last summer. The Atlanta Falcons were the only team who took real interest and even then, internal qualms led to the hire of a far less accomplished Raheem Morris.

So... get ready, Tar Heel fans. Belichick is not a proven college football coach, but he knows his stuff and hey, I'd imagine recruits want to play for a six-time Super Bowl winner with inside knowledge of what it takes to thrive in the NFL. Just saying.