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Six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick gave an honest reaction to his former team, the New England Patriots, selecting former North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye at No. 3 overall in the 2024 NFL Draft, the first selection made since his 24-year tenure as head coach concluded in January.
"I think that's certainly a top need for them," Belichick said while appearing on the Pat McAfee Show's live telecast of the draft. "Drake compares himself a lot to Josh Allen -- he's said that for quite a while, we'll see about that -- there are some similarities in terms of size and athleticism, but Josh Allen is a pretty special player."
"This is a kid that can make all the throws, he just needs to be more consistent," Belichick added.
Maye served as the Tar Heels' starter during the past two season, having only thrown 10 passes as a redshirt freshman in 2021, and finished his collegiate career with 8,018 yards, 63 touchdowns and 16 interceptions.
"He hasn't played very much. He really doesn't have a lot of experience. He's going to need some work in reading defenses, reading coverages," Belichick said. "He's kind of quick to bail out of the pocket. He's going to need to hang in there a little bit longer and find those receivers."
Belichick is one of seven NFL head coaches to have spent more than 20 years with one franchise following George Halas (40) of the Chicago Bears, Curly Lambeau (29) of the Green Bay Packers, Tom Landry (29) of the Dallas Cowboys, Don Shula (26) of the Miami Dolphins, Steven Owen (24) of the New York Giants and Chuck Noll of the Pittsburgh Steelers, all of whom have been enshrined in the Pro Football Hall of Fame and is the third-winningest coach in NFL history behind only Shula and Halas with 311 victories.