Legendary head coach Bill Belichick will be returning to the sidelines in 2025, but he won’t be doing so in the NFL.
Belichick has agreed to a five-year deal to take over as head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels, the program announced Wednesday.
According to The Athletic’s Brendan Marks, the deal is worth $50 million over five years.
“I am excited for the opportunity at UNC-Chapel Hill. I grew up around college football with my Dad and treasured those times,” Belichick said in a press release. “I have always wanted to coach in college and now I look forward to building the football program in Chapel Hill.”
The news comes after ESPN’s Adam Schefter, Pete Thamel and Chris Low, reported that Belichick was “finalizing a deal” to become UNC’s next head coach.
Michael Lombardi, a former NFL general manager who worked with the New England Patriots, San Francisco 49ers, Las Vegas Raiders and Cleveland Browns, will also join Belichick at UNC as the program’s general manager.
“I’m excited to join Coach Belichick at North Carolina,” Lombardi said, per Bill Adee of VSiN. “Although leaving my VSIN family will be hard, I’m excited to return to helping build a winning program. I’m forever thankful for all the great people at VSIN, especially Bill Adee and the Musburger family.”
The deal comes after a week of rumors linking Belichick to the job opening for the Tar Heels, who fired head coach Mack Brown after their 6-6 finish to the 2024 season. Brown, who was in his second stint as UNC head coach, led the team to a combined 44-33 record over the last six seasons with five bowl game appearances.
Adam Smith of 247Sports reported on Wednesday that UNC was finalizing a contract for Belichick, with the school’s Board of Trustees scheduling an emergency meeting to approve the hire. It apparently didn’t take long for the 72-year-old to be brought in to lead a new era for the Tar Heels.
Undoubtedly one of the greatest football coaches of all time, Belichick is a six-time Super Bowl champion from his iconic run with the Patriots and also earned two more Super Bowl rings as an assistant under Bill Parcells with the New York Giants. His 333 career NFL wins rank second in league history behind Don Shula’s 347.
However, Belichick surprisingly wasn’t hired by an NFL team after parting ways with the Patriots at the end of the 2023 season following his 24-year tenure. He garnered little interest on the open market, with his only known interview being with the Atlanta Falcons before they hired Raheem Morris as head coach. He spent the 2024 season working as an NFL broadcaster and analyst for multiple networks.
Now, Belichick will be embarking on a new challenge as he tries his hand at coaching in college for the first time in his career. His father, Steve Belichick, was an assistant coach at Navy for 34 years and had stints as an assistant at UNC and Vanderbilt. Bill’s eldest son, Stephen Belichick, spent the 2024 season as defensive coordinator at Washington following a 12-year run on the Patriots staff working under his dad.
It will certainly be interesting to see how Belichick navigates the constantly shifting landscape of college football, where NIL rules, transfer portal changes and conference realignment have created new challenges for coaches.
However, it’s clear that Belichick was ready to return to coaching, and UNC gave him the opportunity to get back to doing what he does best.
This news appeared first on @BLEACHER REPORT
