Years from now, at a time to be determined at a later date, we'll know if a radical, trailblazing hire that could transform a booming industry was an overwhelming success or a costly, headline-grabbing fiasco.

It feels as though there will be no alternative conclusions when it comes to Bill Belichick, now a college football coach for the first time, and the North Carolina Tarheels.

Oh, it could absolutely work, especially with the proper support. It could also be a showcase of how not to run a football program at a time when the head coach is quickly morphing into a CEO.

Either way, it won't be boring.

On Wednesday, the 72-year-old six-time Super Bowl winner was announced officially as the team's next head coach, putting days of surprising speculation to bed. For as odd as it all sounded—even with Belichick's father serving as an assistant at the school in the 1950s—it never felt quite real.

Although it very much is. And its very existence, long before a single game is played, should shakeup the way college football vacancies are viewed moving forward.

"We know that college athletics is changing, and those changes require new and innovative thinking," AD Bubba Cunningham said in a release. "Bill Belichick is a football legend, and hiring him to lead our program represents a new approach that will ensure Carolina football can evolve, compete and win—today and in the future."

Have you waited your whole life to see Belichick coach a football game against Scott Frost? If so, you'll know exactly what that looks like when UNC travels to Central Florida on September 20th of next year.

Are you curious how he'll react when the refs flag one of his defensive players for targeting for the very first time? Or how we'll handle the transfer portal and recruiting as a whole? Or how he'll gladhand boosters, one of the great strengths of Mack Brown, the man Belichick will now replace.

The list goes on and on and on, and the questions are valid.

For as much success as Belichick has had in the NFL, he's never coached a college football program before. And at a time when the sport is quickly becoming something different than it once was—thanks largely to NIL and the transfer portal—it's reasonable to wonder if Belichick, for all his football experience, will be able to navigate the oddities and necessities of building a roster year after year.

It's easy to question the move. After all, NFL teams have passed on Belichick since his departure from the New England Patriots. His age will also be a popular discussion for teams that will be suddenly thrust into recruiting battles against one of the greatest coaches to ever pace a sideline.

Nick Saban, someone Belichick knows extremely well, is 73. Less than a year ago, Saban decided he could no longer keep up with the rigors of a job that had evolved under his feet, choosing to retire from his Alabama post. Although Belichick practically the same age, he wasn't the least bit deterred.

In many ways, the move is direct counter to the direction many assumed college football was heading. As both Saban and Jim Harbaugh said farewell, the sport said farewell to two of its most interesting personalities.

The exodus, so many assumed, was just beginning. With the business of college football becoming all-consuming, the departures of these two giants served as a warning sign—at least for many.

Less than a year later, and the narrative is all but crushed. Belichick, through hope or desperation to coach once more, has chosen college football.

He's accepted the unknown that surrounds the current model and the baggage that comes with it, embracing, so we think, the opportunity to inject his endless successes in unique ways. He's not running from NIL; he's running toward it.

The end result could be wildly successful. While money looms across many major recruiting decisions these days, Belichick offers up a counter new coach in the ACC or beyond possibly can.

With parents, he'll be on his own pedestal. The moment he walks into a room, before he can spew any manufactured recruiting pitch, he'll have a distinct advantage.

There are plenty of reasons to believe that this will work from a talent acquisition and football standpoint. There are also plenty of reasons to assume it's doomed to fail.

Either way, college football is better for it. The excitement and buzz that will follow Belichick every step of the way—from managing the portal to spring practice to media days to his very first game—will provide a sea of content.

His intense sideline presence will serve as distinct change of pace. His pedigree will carry him forward, and it will serve as a billboard for other coaches of a similar background wondering if they can do the same.

In a sport so laced in personality, the addition of Belichick at this exact moment in time is nothing short of extraordinary. Time will tell if this bold move blossoms into a success, although it's hard not to view this as anything short as an overwhelming positive until further notice.