Bill Belichick's first recruiting win: Top-100 QB Bryce Baker reaffirms commitment to UNC

Bill Belichick wrapped up his introductory news conference at North Carolina on Thursday afternoon just before 3 p.m. A half-hour later, Belichick was already courting high school prospects.

And on Saturday, the 72-year-old picked up the first recruiting win of his career.

Four-star quarterback Bryce Baker is heading to Chapel Hill, the Kernersville, N.C., native announced Saturday afternoon via social media.

God’s blessing me with all I want in front of me, just have to go get it!🐏 https://t.co/0iITUDS0kJ

— Bryce Baker (@thebrycebaker2) December 14, 2024

Baker, ranked No. 80 overall and the No. 8 quarterback in the Class of 2025 in the 247Sports Composite, first committed to coach Mack Brown and the Tar Heels in June 2023 but opted not to sign during the early signing period in early December after Brown was fired late last month.

Baker took an official visit to Penn State on Nov. 30 and was leaning toward signing with coach James Franklin and the Nittany Lions. That changed after one phone call with the six-time Super Bowl winner Belichick.

“Me and my brothers were talking and we kind of just thought about my legacy and what I wanted,” Baker said. “It was either Penn State or North Carolina. Penn State (is) a program that’s established and that’s having success already. Would I want to go in there and take Penn State to the national championship or would I want to be an up-and-coming thing in my home state and help turn things around at North Carolina?

“I chose the second option to help turn things around at North Carolina. Build my legacy in North Carolina, where I’m from.”

GO DEEPER

What do top prospects and high school coaches think about the Bill Belichick hire?

Baker had a series of questions prepared and approached the Belichick conversation like an “interview.” Toward the top of his list: How would the coach utilize Baker’s talent? And what would be the plan for the blue-chip quarterback once he got to campus?

Belichick said all of the right things and Baker walked away from the call with a strong feeling about how the former Patriots coach would prepare him to be a professional.

“Just his resume of him being in the NFL, he knows what it takes to develop a quarterback and what a quarterback has to do to be at that level and the characteristics that a quarterback has to have to have success in the NFL,” Baker said. “It was implied things like that that I kind of compared to Penn State, and (Penn State) didn’t really have a guy on staff or someone I could work with daily to hold me accountable to those measures.”

Baker, who plans to enroll at North Carolina in January, wrapped up his season at East Forsyth (N.C.) High School last week when the Eagles dropped their first and only game of the season in the state playoffs.

The 6-foot-2 ½, 195-pounder had a dominant year, completing 74.8 percent of his passes for 3,523 yards with 40 touchdowns and just five interceptions.

Baker is aware of what’s ahead for the Tar Heels and admitted that UNC had boxes he couldn’t check as confidently as he could with Penn State. He’s trusting Belichick to hire an offensive staff that will get the most out of him.

GO DEEPER

Marks: Hiring Bill Belichick shows UNC is all in — for better or worse

But he’s excited about the challenge and opportunity that awaits at North Carolina.

“Just (to) deal with and overcome adversity that’s going on with the football team right now, I feel like that will just build my development, that will develop me more,” he said. “It will build my character, build my mentality, build my leadership all the more just from being able to take Carolina to that next level. I just feel like as far as relating that to my pro career, I feel like that’ll help me adjust even more to a new team no matter where they’re at as far as if they’re good or not.”

With Baker’s commitment, the Tar Heels still have just eight signees in the 2025 class. Belichick is also trying to retain four-star edge Austin Alexander out of Kentucky — another commit who has yet to sign — and will spend the rest of the month fortifying the roster through the transfer portal.

But the Tar Heels have their quarterback. And Belichick has aced his first test as a recruiter.

“I honestly found peace in the situation because I felt like (we are) a very faithful family, (I am a) very faithful guy and I was just trusting God through it,” Baker said. “I prayed about it and I feel like He blessed me with clarity on the situation.”

GO DEEPER

Feldman: No reason Belichick can’t have success at UNC. Just don’t expect him to last long

(Photo courtesy of Bryce Baker)