When Bill Belichick was hired by the New England Patriots almost 25 years ago, with Robert Kraft surrendering a first-round pick to the Jets in the process, the pundits weren’t impressed.

Including me.

I thought Kraft was nuts for giving up anything for Belichick.

Here’s some of what I wrote in the Boston Herald that day:

“Football coaches worth surrendering first-round draft picks for: Vince Lombardi. George Halas. Paul Brown. Bill Parcells. Joe Gibbs. Don Shula. Chuck Noll. Tom Landry, Bill Walsh. Sorry folks. Bill Belichick does not fit the mold. He is not in that coaching stratosphere. Not in my book, anyway. … We just don’t have any evidence that Belichick is that caliber of coach. He has yet to prove his mettle. He hasn’t won a darn thing as a head coach. And that’s the point.”

In nearly 40 years of covering sports, that was one of my most brilliant takes. So brilliant that it’s featured in a book of all-time best columnist bloopers entitled: “Freezing Cold Takes: Football Media’s Most Inaccurate Predictions And The Fascinating Stories Behind Them.”

With Belichick formally introduced Thursday as head coach at the University of North Carolina, there are plenty of columnists, both locally and beyond, once again predicting failure.

At age 72, without much in his holster to brag about without Tom Brady, and zero experience coaching at the college level, some people aren’t convinced he can be successful.

Me?

Well, fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

Sure, it’s tempting to once again hop on the dark side, considering what went down in Belichick’s final four seasons with the Patriots. Not to mention some of the cast he’s bringing to Chapel Hill – say hello to UNC’s new football GM, Michael Lombardi. Add Belichick now having to deal with kids who care less about championship rings, and having to woo them to North Carolina, and it’s easy to put UNC in the same boat with Kraft more than two decades ago.

Not this time.

After watching the man coach for 24 seasons in Foxborough, watching him expertly craft defensive schemes to foil, confuse and demoralize opposing quarterbacks, and also seeing the winning culture he built, there’s no way I’m joining the doubters.

I learned the hard way that Belichick, much like Tom Brady, loves to prove people wrong. He relishes doing what some might consider the impossible.

See Super Bowl XXXVI against the Rams or Super Bowl LI against Atlanta as two prime examples.

Yes, the deck seems stacked against him once more. But I’m not fool enough to fall for that again.

At his introductory press conference, Belichick was … well Belichick. Not the gruff Belichick reporters witnessed more often than not during hundreds of media availabilities. Instead, he was a bit more charming, and had his salesman hat on trying to convince listeners – not to mention possible recruits – he’s all-in with this venture.

“My dad told me this, when you love what you do, it’s not work,” Belichick said. “I love what I do. I love coaching. I love the interaction with the players. Love building a team, working with assistants, game planning, the game itself, which, there’s some good ones, there’s some bad, but they’re all learning experiences.”

Belichick pointed out teaching is what he does best, no matter what age player he’s talking about. Of course, he pulled out some of his biggest success stories – Tom Brady, Rob Gronkowski and Julian Edelman.

“If you look at the players we had in NFL, Tom Brady was a fourth-string quarterback his rookie year. He didn’t exactly come in with any playing time at all,” Belichick said. “Gronkowski, he didn’t do too much his rookie year. Julian Edelman played quarterback in college, and then he was a wide receiver and then he was a punt returner. So developing players is something that (Lombardi) and I believe strongly in. We’ll support that with the staff and we’ll support that with the program. There’s a lot of opportunity and room for growth for all players, whether 19, 20 or honestly, 22, 23.”

Belichick also tried to convince non-believers he was done with the NFL: “I didn’t come here to leave.”

Instead, he says he’s in Chapel Hill to stay and live out a dream.

“Always wanted to coach college football. It just never really worked out,” he said. “I’ve had some good years in the NFL. So that was OK, but this is really kind of a dream come true.”

Or, it could be a nightmare. Just don’t bet on it. A lifetime of egg on my face was enough for me.