Former NFL linebacker and New England Patriot Jamie Collins will join the UNC football program as a defensive analyst.
Retired All-Pro LB Jamie Collins, who won Super Bowl XLIX with the Patriots, is joining his former head coach Bill Belichick's coaching staff at the University of North Carolina.
— TMZ Sports (@TMZ_Sports) February 7, 2025
Collins will serve as a defensive assistant for @UNCFootball. @UNC @JamieLee601 pic.twitter.com/k5rkTZ73J1
Collins played for Bill Belichick at New England in three different stints (2013-16, 2019, 2021-22) in a ten-year NFL career. He was primarily an outside linebacker, but as a Belichick alum, it should come as no surprise that he was very versatile. Over his career, Collins accumulated 709 tackles, 26.5 sacks, 12 interceptions, 19 forced fumbles, and eight fumble recoveries.
Collins will have plenty of professional know-how to pass on to North Carolina's current crop of players, but more than anything, he'll be an example of what is possible with a Bill Belichick recruit. UNC fans could be forgiven for some of the transfer portal recruits that have come to the program from other schools, or some of the high school commitments who aren't five-star composites.
Collins was a three-star recruit out of high school and went to Southern Mississippi. While in college, he played at all three levels of defense, from defensive end to linebacker, to safety. Bill Belichick has put an emphasis on player versatility, and nobody could be a truer testament to what is possible in the NFL with a wide, varied skillset than Jamie Collins.
Let's see what kind of mayhem UNC's defense can cause with Jamie Collins in the ears of its defenders next season.