High School

Bill Belichick Brings New Jersey Talent to UNC Football with Standout 2024 Recruits

Legendary coach adds NJ defensive star Tyler Houser and elite kicker Guytano Bartolomeo to Tar Heels roster

John Beisser

North Carolina head football coach Bill Belichick during halftime at at a recent Tar Heel basketball game. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
North Carolina head football coach Bill Belichick during halftime at at a recent Tar Heel basketball game. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

First-year University of North Carolina head football coach and former seven-time Super Bowl-winning head coach of the New England Patriots, Bill Belichick, has enjoyed more more than his share of success in the state of New Jersey throughout his unparalleled, storied career.

Belichick once called East Rutherford, NJ his work home, playing a significant role as defensive coordinator for the New York Giants, as the architect of the famed “Big Blue Wrecking Crew” Defense which helped the Jints to Super Bowl Championships in 1986 and 1990 under head coach Bill Parcells.

The unequivocal leader of those Giant defenses was of course the man who re-invented the outside linebacker position, the great Lawrence Taylor, himself, a graduate of the same University of North Carolina Tar Heel institution of whose football program Belichick now guides

When on the opposing team sideline as the head coach in New England, Belichick owns a 19-5 record vs. the New York Jets in East Rutherford, an 8-2 mark at Giants Stadium and an 11-3 record at the Jets’ current home, MetLife Stadium.

Well, two more victories can now be added to the future NFL Hall of Famer’s Garden State ledger as, among North Carolina’s recently signed 19-man recruiting class, is the inclusion of two standout New Jersey prospects who bought into the living legend’s sales pitch.

Belichick inked 6-2, 220-pound linebacker Tyler Houser of Sparta, NJ and Guytano Bartolomeo, a top 5-10, 170-pound punter/placekicker from Old Tappan, NJ where he starred at renowned Bergen Catholic High School in Oradell, NJ, to national letters of intent back in December.

A product of Pope John XXIII Regional High School, Houser recorded 341 career tackles, including 225 solo stops and 116 assists during his career with the Lions. As a senior, Houser ranged far and wide to tally 144 total tackles, including 109 stops of the solo variety which came on the heels of a junior season that saw record 121 total hits, including 86 solo tackles. In a 24-game varsity career, the included five games at safety, Houser was also was credited with 43.5 tackles for loss and four forced fumbles.

In addition, Houser registered 13.5 career sacks, including seven during his 10-game senior campaign. A standout on the basketball hardwood as well, Houser also had an interception and a fumble recovery to his credit in each of his junior and senior seasons.

As for the strong-legged Bartolomeo, he successfully converted on 143 of 145 career extra point attempts while connecting on 11 of 16 career field goal tries with a long of 41 yards as a senior. For his career, Bartolomeo tallied 176 career points, including a season high of 62 as a junior, when he made all 44 extra point tries and all six of his field goal attempts. Yes, for an entire season, when the ball was placed down, Bartolomeo lasered all 50 of his attempts through the uprights.

And these weren’t just run of the mill, pad the score type kicks. Many of these field goals were of the pressure variety as he was involved in big-game pressure each week in helped to lead Bergen Catholic to the No. 1 ranking in the state of New Jersey three years in a row (2022-24.) Additionally, his kickoffs earned 33 touchbacks in 2024 and 60 for his career.

Check out Guytano Bartolomeo's Hudl high school highlights.

Bill Belichick and New Jersey – a pairing that continues to yield success.

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John Beisser
JOHN BEISSER

A recipient of seven New Jersey Press Association Awards for writing excellence, John Beisser served as Assistant Director in the Rutgers University Athletic Communications Office from 1991-2006, where he primarily handled sports information/media relations duties for the Scarlet Knight football and men's basketball programs. In this role, he served as managing editor for nine publications that received either National or Regional citations from the College Sports Information Directors of America (CoSIDA). While an undergraduate at RU, Beisser was sports director of WRSU-FM and a sportswriter/columnist for The Daily Targum. From 2007-2019, Beisser served as Assistant Athletic Director/Sports Media Relations at Wagner College, where he was the recipient of the 2019 Met Basketball Writers Association "Good Guy" Award. Beisser resides in Piscataway with his wife Aileen (RC '95,) a four-year Scarlet Knight women's lacrosse letter-winner, and their daughter Riley. He began contributing to High School On SI in 2025.

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