CHAPEL HILL - As North Carolina made an unprecedented coaching hire in Bill Belichick this offseason, with it came an unprecedented recruiting approach.

In the two months since the 72-year old’s hire, the Tar Heels have implemented their nationwide recruiting blueprint, one that’s much different than that of the previous regime.

For many years, UNC's recruiting footprint rarely extended beyond the southeast United States-Atlantic regions. Under Mack Brown, the Tar Heels created a pipeline from Atlanta and Washington, DC, to Chapel Hill, and made it a point of emphasis to keep North Carolina’s best in-state.

Under Belichick, the Tar Heels have expanded their recruiting efforts into untapped reservoirs, breaking into the Northeast and the West Coast.

In the month of January alone, the UNC coaching staff extended offers to 33 prospects from California and 59 prospects across the Golden State, Massachusetts, and New Jersey. Since, it has received commitments from two prospects in New Jersey and five from California.

Under Brown, the Tar Heels extended offers to just nine recruits from the three states across the 2023, 2024, and 2025 classes.

Add in prospects from Arizona, Nevada, and Washington with offers and UNC’s recruiting board has truly expanded from coast to coast.

It’s been a concerted effort by Belichick and General Manager Michael Lombardi, who believe in the North Carolina brand and its reach.

“We have this UNC logo [that] is worldwide. So we shouldn't limit ourselves,” said Lombardi during his first meeting with the media on Tuesday. “I think that we can walk into any school and say, 'we're North Carolina. We have the greatest coach in the history of football, and we have a great university, come play for us.' I think it's a powerful message.”

North Carolina does not have the recent winning track record of elite programs, particularly of those in the SEC or Big Ten, but it does have something no other college football program does: a six-time Super Bowl winning head coach.

And it hopes to utilize that along with its pro-style approach to recruit, whether it be in North Carolina or Northern California, like a powerhouse program with no geographical boundaries.

“Why should we limit ourselves to just a smaller footprint? And it allows you to look all over the country for the players that fit you,” said Lombardi. “We're going to be a national program, and we're not going to back down to some other programs, because we're in North Carolina. We'll stand on firm ground against anyone."

While the Tar Heels are pursuing the elite four and five-star recruits similar to college football’s top programs, they’re just one piece of the recruiting puzzle for the coaching staff.

With Belichick’s propensity to not only find the diamonds in the rough, but also help them reach their untapped potential, investing in the overlooked recruits has become another recruiting strategy.

Belichick was partially responsible for drafting and developing Julian Edelman, and brought to New England the likes of Malcolm Butler, Wes Welker, and Danny Amendola, who entered the league as undrafted free agents.

That is why for the UNC staff, it’s about what they see, not recruiting rankings or how many offers a particular prospect holds.

“We believe in our eyes. You know, Red Auerbach has a great saying, 'we get our information from looking, not from talking.'” said Lombardi. “And so I think if you trust your eyes and you evaluate players, it doesn't really matter if some other school wants them.”

For some recruits, the Tar Heels are their lone Power Four offer or one of just a handful of FBS programs to give them an opportunity.

With over 1,000,000 high school football players across America, falling through the recruiting cracks is inevitable, even for those with Division I talent and potential.

It’s a part of the game that Lombardi witnessed firsthand during his over three decade long career in the NFL.

“All I know is for my 35 years or more in the National Football League, I've drafted players that weren't recruited out of high school. I've drafted players that had no scholarship offers coming out of high school,” said Lombardi. “So there's always going to be a lot of guys that get missed, and I think you have to trust your instincts and trust your eyes.”

As the NCAA increases the scholarship limit for football from 85 to 105, it affords North Carolina the opportunity to take a flyer on an unknown prospect.

And as Belichick, Lombardi, and the Tar Heel coaching staff continue their work on the recruiting trail, their recruiting board will not be restricted, with five-star prospects to unknown names, who hail from inside the state’s borders to the other side of the country.