Former New England Patriots Director of Player Development, Chris Mattes, is joining Bill Belichick’s staff at North Carolina, multiple sources have confirmed to Tar Heel Illustrated.

Mattes served in various roles in that department from 2017 until recently. He was also Coordinator, Player Operations & Engagement, Director, Player Operations & Engagement, and then Director of Football Development.

He was hired by Belichick and remained with the organization through this past year after Belichick had moved on.

Mattes played professional lacrosse for several teams in the Premier Lacrosse League. After playing, he coached at Maryland as part of a staff that won the 2017 NCAA championship. He was a high school coach before that, leading Westfield HS to a New Jersey state championship in 2014.

He played lacrosse at Rutgers graduating in 2011.

Described in his bio on the University of Maryland website as a “USILA All-America faceoff specialist” as a college player at Rutgers. Also, “During his career at Rutgers, Mattes won 160-of-252- faceoff draws (63.5%) and was named First Team All-Big East in addition to his All-America honors.”

As far as football goes, Mattes’ role with the Patriots was described by PatsPulpit.com as: “His primary focus was on supporting players, coaches and staff with handling life in the NFL and as part of the Patriots organization as well as coordinating the logistics of the team’s football operations.”

Mattes is the first former staffer from the Patriots to join Belichick at UNC aside from the head coach’s son, Steve, who is the Tar Heels’ defensive coordinator.