Bill Belichick is a done deal at the University of North Carolina. His contract is signed, and he has assembled a coaching staff. He has hit the recruiting trail looking for ball players. Why all of a sudden, now that Belichick is off the market, is he being rumored for many of the open NFL coaching gigs?
Ian Rapoport: Where Was All the Love for Bill Belichick Last Coaching Cycle?
Ian Rapoport and the insiders from NFL Network want to know why all of a sudden teams are looking at Belichick to become the coach of an NFL team, when he just accepted the job at the University of North Carolina.
The Las Vegas Raiders made headlines Wednesday about their coaching search.
According to reports, the team plans on contacting Belichick. The ties to Tom Brady, who is a minority owner of the franchise, could be just what the doctor ordered for the Raiders.
“Multiple NFL teams have inquired about whether legendary coach Bill Belichick would reconsider his move to college football — including the Raiders, whose new minority owner Tom Brady spoke recently with his old coach, per league sources,” Tom Pelissero said on X.
Belichick was named head coach of the Tar Heels just a little over a month ago. If you are wondering what Belichick’s buyout is if he wanted to return to the NFL, it would be costly to him.
Belichick’s contract with North Carolina is a five-year deal worth $50 million. His buyout is $10 million if he leaves before June 1, 2025, but that number sinks to $1 million after that date.
It would cost him eight figures to get back to the NFL for the 2025 season, but Belichick can likely handle that buyout as he has earned over $200 million in career earnings as an NFL coach.
The question is whether or not Belichick would be interested in listening to the Raiders, it would probably depend on what the team is offering.
Belichick was out of the league for a year and wanted to come back to coaching but no NFL team wanted him. Now, it appears that the Raiders will use their connection with Tom Brady, who owns a sliver of the team, to recruit Belichick to Vegas.
From The Insiders on @NFLNetwork: Making sense of the latest on Bill Belichick, I am left with this — Where the heck was this interest last year when he was a free agent? pic.twitter.com/SArYl6o0dv
— Ian Rapoport (@RapSheet) January 9, 2025
While some may think that this is a slam dunk for the Raiders because of the Brady and Belichick connection, they may have forgotten toward the end of his time in New England, that Brady and Belichick weren’t exactly on the best of terms.
In a February 2024 interview for the documentary “The Dynasty,” Brady explained one of the reasons he ended up leaving the Patriots was because of his deteriorating relationship with Belichick.
“Me and coach Belichick, we did what we loved and competed for 20 years together,” Brady said, quoted in a review by Chad Graff of The Athletic. “But I wasn’t going to sign another contract (with the Patriots) even if I wanted to play until (I was) 50. Based on how things had gone, I wasn’t going to sign up for more of it.”
Belichick’s coaching style was also depicted as “dictatorial,” with longtime Patriots wide receiver Wes Welker comparing Brady to an abused dog for continually going back to work for Belichick.
The Patriots only made the playoffs once since Brady left. So any thought of this being easy for Brady and the Raiders may be wishful thinking.