We may be about to find out just how committed Bill Belichick is to coaching North Carolina in 2025.
According to the NFL Network, “multiple” NFL teams have approached Belichick about their coaching vacancies. And one of those teams is the Las Vegas Raiders, where Tom Brady is a minority owner.
But Brady has been in touch with Belichick recently as the Raiders weighed the future of head coach Antonio Pierce, who was fired on Tuesday after going 4-13 in his lone season as the full-time head coach. Brady and Belichick won six Super Bowls together with the Patriots, and sources say Brady believes the situation in Las Vegas requires a coach of Belichick’s expertise and stature to establish a sustainable winning program.
The Raiders have posted losing seasons in each of the past three years and were 8-9 a season ago when Pierce took over for the fired Josh McDaniels during the season. Las Vegas is also in a division with the Broncos, Chargers and Chiefs, franchises with some of the most accomplished head coaches in the league in Sean Payton, Jim Harbaugh and Andy Reid. All three made the playoffs this season.
Belichick became the head coach at North Carolina in December and has been photographed making recruiting visits to high school prospects in recent weeks. The longtime Patriots coach is just the second NFL coach to become a college head coach after winning a Super Bowl along with Bill Walsh. And unlike Walsh, Belichick was never a college football coach before he was an NFL coach.
Belichick’s contract with North Carolina has a $10 million buyout that drops to $1 million this summer. An NFL team looking to hire him this offseason certainly wouldn’t want to wait until the buyout drops and would need to pay the full amount barring a negotiation of some sort. In addition to the Raiders, the Bears, Jaguars, Jets, Patriots and Saints also have head coaching vacancies, though we can probably rule out a reunion in New England after Jerod Mayo was fired following his first season succeeding Belichick.
It would be a fascinating turn if Belichick becomes a serious candidate to return to the NFL in 2025. A season ago, Belichick was available after parting ways with the Patriots and didn’t receive much interest from other teams looking for head coaches. That led to him spending the season doing media appearances and exploring ways to continue his coaching career.
North Carolina was interested in Belichick after firing Mack Brown with one week to go in the regular season. Brown, one of three active coaches in 2024 who had won a national title along with Georgia’s Kirby Smart and Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, was in his second stint at North Carolina, though the Tar Heels were in the midst of a second disappointing season.
During his introductory news conference, Belichick said that he “didn’t come here to leave.” If NFL teams really are interested in him, we’re about to find out how strong that statement is.
