CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — University of North Carolina head football coach Bill Belichick has filled out his coaching staff, he announced on Monday. The full staff of new hires boast impressive coaching histories at both the NFL and collegiate levels.

In additon to Bill Belichick as head coach, the 2025 Tar Heel coaching staff includes:

Freddie Kitchens, Offensive Coordinator/Tight Ends

Carolina’s run game coordinator and tight ends coach in 2023 and 2024, Kitchens will serve as the Tar Heels’ offensive coordinator and tight ends coach under Bill Belichick. In 2023, UNC’s tight ends totaled 71 catches for 1,034 yards and nine touchdowns, making Carolina one of just two schools in the country to rank in the top five nationally in each category. Kitchens served as Carolina’s interim head coach at the 2024 Fenway Bowl.

Prior to coming to Chapel Hill in 2023, Kitchens built an extensive NFL resumé with the Dallas Cowboys (tight ends coach under Bill Parcells), Arizona Cardinals (an 11-year run working at various times with tight ends, quarterbacks and running backs) and New York Giants (tight ends, senior offensive assistant, interim offensive coordinator). He joined the Cleveland Browns as associate head coach and running backs coach in 2018 and was promoted to offensive coordinator at midseason. He served as the Browns’ head coach in 2019, posting a 6-10 record.

Will Friend, Offensive Line

Most recently the offensive coordinator at Western Kentucky during the 2024 season, Friend has an extensive history of tutoring offensive lines in power conferences, including serving as offensive line coach at Mississippi State (2023), Auburn (2021-22) and Tennessee (2018-20). He also was offensive coordinator and offensive line coach at Colorado State (2015-17) and offensive line coach at Georgia (2011-14).

Friend has helped mold talented offensive linemen at each stop in his coaching career, coaching nine selected in the NFL Draft.

Matt Lombardi, Quarterbacks

A former NFL assistant coach, Lombardi joins the Tar Heel football staff as quarterbacks coach after spending the 2024 season as an offensive analyst at the University of Oregon. While at Oregon, Lombardi helped develop Heisman Trophy finalist Dillon Gabriel and assisted the Ducks’ run to the top seed in the College Football Playoff.

Prior to his time with the Ducks, Lombardi worked as an assistant wide receivers coach with the Las Vegas Raiders and an assistant quarterbacks coach of the Carolina Panthers with an additional stint on the offensive staff of the Miami Dolphins. Lombardi also boasts further college coaching history at Baylor (offensive quality control coach) and Louisville (offensive graduate assistant).

Garrick McGee, Wide Receivers

A former college head coach who most recently served as wide receivers coach at Louisville, McGee joins the Tar Heel staff in the same role under Bill Belichick. He served as WR coach for the Cardinals in 2024 after previously working as the offensive coordinator and quarterbacks coach at UofL in 2014-15 under Bobby Petrino.

He was the head coach at UAB for two seasons in 2012 and 2013 after four years at Arkansas (2008-11), which included two years as offensive coordinator (2010-11). McGee also has worked as offensive coordinator/quarterbacks coach at Illinois for two seasons under Lovie Smith (2016-17), as well as two years each at Missouri (2018-19), Florida (2020-21) and one year at Purdue (2022).

Natrone Means, Running Backs

A Tar Heel legend and NFL standout with two decades’ experience in coaching, Means served as an offensive analyst from 2021-24 under former UNC head coach Mack Brown. Prior to returning to Chapel Hill in 2021, he was offensive coordinator, assistant head coach and running backs coach at Fayetteville State. His resumé also includes six years as running backs coach at Winston-Salem State and stints at Livingstone College and West Charlotte and Hopewell High Schools.

As an NFL player, Means played seven years with the San Diego Chargers, helping lead them to Super Bowl XXIX and becoming the youngest player ever to score a touchdown in the Super Bowl (at age 22). While playing with the Tar Heels from 1990-92, Means was a two-time first-team All-ACC pick who compiled 3,074 career rushing yards and 34 touchdowns in three seasons.

Caleb Pickrell, Offensive Assistant

Caleb Pickrell joined the Carolina football staff as an offensive graduate assistant in March 2022 before moving to the role of offensive analyst for the 2023 season. He came to Chapel Hill after spending one season as a graduate assistant at UCF. At both UCF and UNC, Pickrell focused on working with the offensive line. Prior to joining the Knights, Pickrell was the offensive line coach and recruiting coordinator at Lakeland High School in Lakeland, Fla. He helped lead the Dreadnaughts to a Florida Class 7A state championship in 2018.

Steve Belichick, Defensive Coordinator/Linebackers

Steve Belichick spent last season as the defensive coordinator at the University of Washington following a 12-year stretch on the defensive coaching staff of the New England Patriots that included five Super Bowl appearances and three titles. He will serve as Carolina’s defensive coordinator.

Belichick was the Patriots’ defensive play-caller his last four years (2020-23) in New England, while also coaching linebackers (2022-23) and outside linebackers (2020-21). He’d previously worked with the team’s defensive backs (2019) and safeties (2016-18) after having worked four years (2012-15) as a defensive assistant. In 2023, Belichick, the son of Bill Belichick, helped lead a defense that ranked third in the NFL in opponent yards per play (4.7) and sixth in total defense, allowing 301.6 yards per game.

Belichick’s grandfather, also named Steve, was an assistant football coach for the Tar Heels from 1953-55 before going on to become assistant football coach for more than three decades at the United States Naval Academy. Belichick was a four-year lacrosse letterman at Rutgers before lettering as a senior on the football team at long snapper.

Bob Diaco, Defensive Line

A former college head coach and defensive coordinator, Diaco comes to Carolina after two seasons at LSU, where he served as special teams coordinator in 2023 and senior defensive analyst in 2024. He was the head coach at Connecticut for three seasons from 2014-16.

Prior to his time at UConn, Diaco won the Frank Broyles Award as the top assistant coach in the nation while at Notre Dame in 2012, helping coach the Fighting Irish to an appearance in the national championship game. He also was defensive coordinator at Cincinnati in 2009 when the Bearcats went 12-0 in the regular season. His coaching resumé also includes stops at Nebraska (2017), Oklahoma (2018), Louisiana Tech (2019) and Purdue (2020), as well as two years (2022-23) with the USFL’s New Jersey Generals.

Brian Belichick, Defensive Backs/Safeties

Brian Belichick joins the Tar Heel defensive staff as defensive backs/safeties coach following a nine-year stint with the New England Patriots. He began with the Patriots in 2016 as a scouting assistant, then transitioned to being a coaching assistant before taking over as safeties coach from 2020-23. The youngest son of Bill Belichick, he won a pair of Super Bowl titles during his run in New England and played football and lacrosse at Trinity College.

Armand Hawkins, Cornerbacks

Armand Hawkins, a former recruiting analyst and secondary coach at the University of Washington, has joined the Tar Heels as cornerbacks coach. While at Washington, he worked under former Huskies and new UNC defensive coordinator Steve Belichick on a staff that helped UW climb from No. 99 nationally in total defense in 2023 to No. 26 in 2024.

Hawkins’ coaching career also includes stints at Arizona (2023) and Colorado (2022). He also was the director of high school relations at Southern California from 2020-22.

Jamie Collins, Inside Linebackers

Former All-Pro NFL linebacker Jamie Collins joins the Carolina staff after a standout playing career with New England, Cleveland and Detroit. While with the Patriots, Collins played for head coach Bill Belichick and won a Super Bowl. He earned second-team All-Pro honors in 2015 after leading the league in caused fumbles. In his 11-year professional career, Collins totaled 708 tackles, 26.5 sacks, 39 pass breakups, 12 interceptions, 19 forced fumbles, eight fumble recoveries and two touchdowns before retiring in 2023.

Ty Nichols, Outside Linebackers

Ty Nichols joins the UNC staff after two seasons as a defensive graduate assistant and analyst at the University of Arizona, where he worked in particular with the Wildcats’ defensive line and linebackers. Prior to coaching at Arizona, Nichols spent three years on the football staff at Texas Tech and coached at the prep level in Idalou, Texas.

Mike Priefer, Special Teams Coordinator

Longtime college and NFL assistant Mike Priefer comes to North Carolina as special teams coordinator after more than two decades of professional coaching experience. Most recently, he completed a four-year stint in 2022 as special teams coordinator with the Cleveland Browns. He worked as an assistant special teams coordinator with the Jacksonville Jaguars (2002), New York Giants (2003-05) and special teams coordinator in and Kansas City Chiefs (2006-08), Denver Broncos (2009-10) and Minnesota Vikings (2011-18). While with the Vikings, he earned recognition as the 2011 NFL Special Teams Coach of the Year in a league-wide vote.

Priefer also has worked as a college assistant at Northern Illinois (2000-01), VMI (1999), Youngstown State (1997-98) and Navy (1994-96). His father, Chuck Priefer, was an NFL coach and special teams coordinator.

Billy Miller, Special Teams Assistant

The former head coach at IMG Academy in Bradenton, Fla., for the last three years, Miller spent 10 years total coaching at the formidable prep school. Prior to his decade at IMG, Miller served as a special teams coach for five months with the New England Patriots under Bill Belichick. He joins the Tar Heel staff as a special teams assistant.

Miller previously worked with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, tutoring kickers, punters and long-snappers before joining the Patriots. An all-conference kicker at Delaware Valley University, he graduated as the school’s career scoring leader. He also spent three seasons on Greg Schiano’s staff at Rutgers University prior to his NFL stint in Tampa. He began his coaching career at Haddon Heights (N.J.) High School.