With the NFL regular season over, and off-season underway, it was only a matter of time, before team that have fired their head coaches, would begin to express interest in UNC head coach, Bill Belichick. According to a report from Tom Peliserro of the NFL Network, the Raiders have contacted him about their vacancy, after firing Antonio Pierce yesterday. That shouldn’t come as a surprise, as his former QB, Tom Brady, is a minority owner of the Raiders, and has a say in matters like these. In addition to the Raiders, the report does suggest that the Jacksonville Jaguars could also express interest in Belichick, after firing Doug Pederson earlier this week.
A report a few hours later from Dianna Russini says that while there is interest on the side of the NFL teams, Belichick has "no plans to return to the NFL", per her sources. She is told that his focus is on "building the Tar Heels future", hench why he is in Pennsylvania and New Jersey recruiting today.
It’s important to remember, that this was always going to happen, even with all that UNC has committed to Belichick, NFL teams were always going to express interest in him. A thing to remember, is that for an NFL team to hire Belichick away from UNC, would have to pay the $10 million buyout, that is in contract up until June 1st, when the buyout drops down to just $1 million.
When Carolina introduced Belichick back in December, he said “I didn’t come here to leave”, and Belichick talked about how he chose college football, as much as college football chose him. The job he coveted the most in the NFL, the New York Giants didn’t come open, as they opted to retain Brian Daboll. The Dallas Cowboys have yet to make a decision about Mike McCarthy, but it’s looking like he’ll be back with the organization in 2025. Part of Belichick’s desire to stay in the NFL, was to set the all-time wins record, and with the current list of jobs available, that could take as long as three years, given the state of each of the franchises currently. You could argue he’d could win more games at UNC in that timespan, than in the NFL, despite playing less games.
This report comes after Belichick made his way around the Charlotte-metro area yesterday recruiting high school players, stopping by powerhouse programs like Providence Day, and Weddington. Furthermore, Belichick made three hires to his staff on Monday alone, following through on what he said he was going to do, when he joined the Pat McAfee Show the week prior.
These rumors and reports were always going to come about, yet UNC decided to hire him, and trust him to turn them into a football winner. For a guy that talked so publicly about his affirmation for the University, because of his dad, it would be a stain on his reputation if he were to leave before ever even coaching a game. Ultimately time will tell if Belichick stays loyal to the place that took a chance on him, when the NFL turned its back on him, or if he’ll jump ship, and leave many coaches, players, and an athletic department in shambles, for a chance at more glory in the NFL.
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