Bill Belichick is on to North Carolina. The six-time Super Bowl champion head coach was officially introduced as the newest leader of the North Carolina Tar Heels on Thursday, marking one of the most surprising developments in the football world in 2024.
After parting ways with the New England Patriots following the 2023 season and not landing a gig last offseason, it was widely assumed that Belichick would find his way back to coaching in 2025. Most, if not everyone, who monitors these types of movements expected Belichick to find a job somewhere in the NFL. Instead, he's opting for the college game, agreeing to a five-year deal with the school.
However, we can't entirely rule out a possible return to the NFL for Belichick down the line due to an interesting wrinkle in his contract with UNC. Included in his deal is a buyout, which is essentially an opportunity for Belichick to terminate his deal without cause. If the contract is terminated before June 1, 2025, the buyout is $10 million. If the contract is terminated after June 1, 2025, it would cost the legendary head coach just $1 million to get out of the deal.
So, the buyout period that sits at $10 million for Belichick is really to prevent him from taking a job during this upcoming hiring cycle in the NFL. However, it would only cost him $1 million to jump ship next year if the right opportunity in the league came calling after the 2025 NFL season.
"I didn't come here to leave," Belichick said during his introductory press conference.
While he did try to snuff the possibility of leaving UNC from the jump, the structure of the buyout will make a potential return to the NFL an ever-looming topic, particularly after June 1, 2025. After all, Belichick remains just 15 wins shy of passing the late Pro Football Hall of Fame coach Don Shula for the all-time wins record. If a team could get him over that threshold and wanted to bring him aboard as its newest head coach, it might be hard to ignore.
That said, it's unclear if that opportunity will ever truly come to his doorstep. Belichick struck out on the hiring cycle a year ago, and there was no guarantee that an organization would give him total control this go-round either. So, if they weren't going to hand over the reins to him at 72 years old, it's hard to imagine a team doing so when he would be 74 by the start of the 2026 season. Still, whenever a big-time head-coaching job does open up in the NFL next cycle, the door is ajar for the Hoodie to make his return.
