The Big Lead

Bill Belichick's contract should concern UNC fans

The term sheet released by UNC would make it easy for Belichick to return to the NFL

By Javon Edmonds

Dec 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels chancellor Lee Roberts, North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick and athletic director Bubba Cunningham at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
Dec 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels chancellor Lee Roberts, North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick and athletic director Bubba Cunningham at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images / Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images
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During his introductory press conference, UNC football coach Bill Belichick delivered a one-liner that Tar Heels fans ate up at the time. Now that his contract details are out, some of those people should want their round of applause back.

Belichick, a six-time Super Bowl champion head coach with the New England Patriots, is 15 wins away from breaking Don Shula's record for the most wins in franchise history. After a year away from coaching, Belichick is resuming his career in the college ranks, insisting he's there to stay.

"I didn't come here to leave," Belichick says. However, his contract buyout dips from $10 million to $1 million after June 1, 2025, as the first three years of his five-year contract are guaranteed, according to the term sheet UNC released.

What does that mean? Belichick can rebuild his reputation in Chapel Hill and leave for the NFL whenever he wants, and it'll only cost $1 million for him to leave — unless he does to UNC what he did to the New York Jets before June 1, 2025.

15 wins is less than two seasons' worth of work on a playoff team. At 72 years of age and an NFL career that began back in 1975, it'd have to be hard for Belichick to turn down one last shot at history if the correct team came calling.

Just because his phone hasn't buzzed recently, it doesn't mean it can't ring one more time in the future. For the price of what is a measly $1 million for Belichick, Tar Heels fans should be on the edge every winter that follows a successful season for their football team — especially 10-win and ACC championship seasons if Belichick gets the team that far.

As UNC has promised $13 million for its football players pending a federal revenue sharing lawsuit and a reported $20 million commitment to NIL funding, Belichick should be able to build the roster that sends UNC to the College Football Playoff and him back to the NFL.

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