"We had a lot of suffering" - When Nick Saban recalled winning over '90s Dallas Cowboys with Bill Belichick in charge

Former New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick has arrived in Chapel Hill with enormous expectations placed on his tenure as coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels. One of his biggest believers has been ESPN analyst Nick Saban, who coached under Belichick for the Cleveland Browns between 1991 and 1994 before forging his own legendary career.

During a 2023 interview posted on "CFB Archive's" YouTube channel, Saban and Belichick had a sitdown reminiscing of their times coaching the Browns together. They highlighted the playoff win over the Dallas Cowboys in 1994 as a momentous occasion before they parted ways, with Saban taking the Michigan State Spartans' coaching job.

"We had a lot of suffering, you know, that went into all that, to get to where we were, so I think that's why it was a big one for both of us," Nick Saban said.

Bill Belichick gets hype from Nick Saban

During Friday's segment of ESPN's "College GameDay," retired Alabama coach Nick Saban backed Bill Belichick to succeed as coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels despite the skepticism from analysts whether the move was a wise one.

“I’m happy for Bill,” Saban said. “I think he probably wanted a new challenge, and this is certainly going to be a great challenge for him. North Carolina is a great academic institution, as well as, they’ve got plenty of athletic tradition there in basketball, football. And Bill’s a great coach.”

Saban even offered advice on the areas that Belichick needs to focus on to make his first job in college football a success pinpointing the crucial recruitment aspect that differs from the NFL.

“The difference in college is, how do you bring guys to the team?” Saban, who has won seven national championships, said. “It’s different drafting guys, than it is to have to recruit them, because recruiting is like a full-time, relationship-building, 365 days a year in terms of not only evaluating the players that you want, but creating the relationships with them to get them.

“Bill will do a great job there of getting good players, and he’ll do a great job of developing those players. The biggest adjustment for him will be the time spent recruiting.”

Bill Belichick hit the ground running after his confirmation, ironically recruiting a former Nick Saban player, defensive linesman Miles McVay from the Alabama Crimson Tide, via the transfer portal, seemingly taking his former colleague's advice to heart.