After sitting out of the 2024 NFL season, Bill Belichick has accepted the head coaching position with the North Carolina Tar Heels football team. Despite signing a contract to coach college football for the first time in his life, the Belichick rumors of a potential return to the NFL haven’t stopped.
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Bill Belichick’s coaching staff causing stir about potential return to NFL
There are now six NFL head coaching vacancies after the Dallas Cowboys decided not to sign Mike McCarthy to a contract extension. Could Bill Belichick be a fit for any of them?
The future Hall of Famer is set to earn a $10 million salary at North Carolina in 2025, but some believe he’ll abandon the team before their season ever kicks off.
According to Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio, one reason why is how Belichick is assembling his coaching staff—specifically, how slowly he’s piecing it together. This is reportedly making some people nervous about a potential return to the NFL.
“It’s been one month and one day since North Carolina introduced Bill Belichick as the program’s new head coach. And Belichick has yet to hire many staff members.
PFT’s Mike Florio on Bill Belichick
The situation is doing nothing to fray nerves in Chapel Hill regarding the possibility that Belichick will activate his $10 million buyout and bolt for the NFL. Separate and apart from the question of whether another team will hire him, UNC is bracing for the possibility that Belichick will be gone not long after he arrived.
Maybe it’s part of a broader plan. Regardless, it’s making people nervous, from the athletic director all the way up to (we’re told) the ACC Commissioner.”
For the record, Belichick’s buyout from North Carolina is $10 million this season. However, that number shrinks all the way down to $1 million next year, which Florio believes is when Belichick’s return to the NFL is more probable.
However, the recent news that the Cowboys are moving on from McCarthy could make things interesting. According to Fox Sports’ Jordan Schultz, Belichick had interest in coaching the Cowboys and still has an “excellent relationship” with team owner Jerry Jones.
“FWIW: Bill Belichick would have been interested in the Cowboys’ job, and it’s believed that Dallas would have been interested in him, had he known the position would become available. Belichick and his camp never received any indication during backchannel conversations that the job would open up, which is partly why he ended up at UNC. Belichick has an excellent relationship with the Jones family.”
Jordan Schultz on Bill Belichick
FWIW: Bill Belichick would have been interested in the Cowboys' job, and it's believed that Dallas would have been interested in him, had he known the position would become available. Belichick and his camp never received any indication during backchannel conversations that the… pic.twitter.com/xIqaGdwFPq
— Jordan Schultz (@Schultz_Report) January 13, 2025
