Bill Belichick hires CFL coach Chris Jones as defensive assistant

Bill Belichick has rehired his staff in North Carolina. Assuming he stays in North Carolina.

Via 3DownNation.com, CFL coach Chris Jones will join the Tar Heels as a defense assistant.

Jones, 57, won the Gray Cup as head coach in Edmonton in 2015. The next year he became coach in Saskatchewan.

After three seasons, Jones made the jump to the NFL as a defensive assistant on coach Freddie Kitchens’ staff.

He returned to Edmonton as head coach in 2022 after coaching his hometown Tennessee high school in 2021. He was released after five games in the 2024 season. He finished the year as Hamilton’s defensive coordinator.

Kitchens’ presence at UNC certainly had something to do with Jones’ hiring. Kitchens was the offensive coordinator under Mack Brown and Kitchens coached the team’s bowl game. He is expected to be Belichick’s offensive coordinator.

Given Belichick’s 50-year NFL relationship, it’s odd at first glance that a Kitchens connection would be hired on the defensive side of the ball.

Maybe that means that if Belichick were to leave for the NFL before he even started, UNC would move forward with a $10 million buyout in the vault and Kitchens as head coach.