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While the rest of us are scratching our heads over the news of Bill Belichick interviewing for a college job, Nick Saban thinks it might actually be a great fit.

Earlier this week, news broke that Belichick was interviewed for the head coaching position at the University of North Carolina. It seems the future Hall of Famer — who parted ways with the New England Patriots in January after 24 seasons as their head coach — isn’t ready to hang up the clipboard just yet.

READ: Bill Belichick’s Priority Of Simply Coaching Again Opens Possibilities With Multiple Teams, Including College

But would his success in the NFL translate to the collegiate game? Saban thinks so.

“Bill is an outstanding coach,” Saban said on Friday’s episode of ESPN’s The Pat McAfee Show. “He’s very well-organized. He’s a good teacher. I think he relates well with the players. So I think he would do a great job in college.”

Saban knows as well as anyone that transitioning from the pros to college (and vice versa) can be tricky. Before the legendary former Alabama coach was raking in National Championships for the Crimson Tide, he spent two seasons as head coach of the Miami Dolphins, where his teams went a combined 15-17.

But that was nearly 20 years ago. And in the modern era of NIL and the transfer portal, the college and professional games are much more similar than they used to be.

“The only thing that would be different is recruiting,” Saban said. “But as you say, relationship-building is not as important — not that Bill wouldn’t be good at that — now that you pay players. I think it becomes a little bit more about the money and the deal that you make with them. So it is a little bit more like pro football.

“And I think Bill knows how to manage that and would do a good job.”

Nick Saban and Bill Belichick were AFC East rivals for two seasons.

(Getty Images)

Saban served as the defensive coordinator for the Cleveland Browns for four seasons under head coach Belichick in the early 1990s. So he knows him well. 

And whether Belichick is serious about the UNC job or not, Saban is not surprised at all that the Tar Heels took an interest.

“It doesn’t surprise me when you have a coach of his caliber, quality, consistency, and success for a lot of years that it wouldn’t be somebody people would consider,” Saban said.