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On Wednesday, NFL Media reported that multiple teams, including the Raiders, I called North Carolina coach Bill Belichick asked if he would reconsider his move to college football.
Belichick said nothing about the report. On Thursday, UNC general manager (and Belichick adviser) Mike Lombardi called the report “completely false” during an appearance on the Pat McAfee Show.
McAfee specifically asked Lombardi if he and Belichick were committed to the Tar Heels.
“Completely committedLombardi said. “One thousand percent committed. I know that I – for Coach Belichick and I, for those conversations – you know, look, the guys who do the internal stuff for the NFL, they have to get the stories out there. And that was a complete lie. When that story came out, Coach Belichick was doing Recruiting in South Jersey. And today he was at Bergen Catholic, one of the teams we saw playing in Ocean City, you know, he went to Hone College to recruit at Princeton. I mean, that story didn’t have any legs.
The story, which Lombardi called “completely false,” was not about Belichick’s departure. It was simply that multiple teams asked Belichick if he would consider leaving. So, technically, Lombardi insists that no NFL teams with open spots have any interest at all in Belichick.
However, it appears that Lombardi was specifically aiming to point out that Tom Brady’s reported conversation with Belichick was about Belichick coaching the Raiders.
“I think what often happens in rumors — and I know this from doing it in the league — is that people try to make a connection: A to B equals C,” Lombardi said. “Well, that’s not always the case. Yes, Tom Brady participates in interviews. Yes, Tom Brady does research on presidential candidates. Yes, Tom Brady invites people for advice and counsel because that’s why he’s so great at what he does.” Because he listens to advice, but don’t assume that because he does it he wants Bill Belichick.
“Bill Belichick has committed to North Carolina. He obliged me to do so. He committed her to university. There was no conversation about anything. We drove from this office here, this football field behind me, to where we live. We navigate every day together. And we both talk about how much of a mess the NFL is and how grateful we are for college football. Because we shake our heads. . . . “I mean, this is the best job we could ever have in our lives and we’re really going to embrace it and work hard to make North Carolina proud.”
First, Belichick’s “commitment” to North Carolina includes a $10 million cut that will drop 90 percent, to $1 million, on June 1, 2025. As we’ve said repeatedly, a buyout clause did not automatically appear in Belichick’s contract; It was negotiated. If he wanted to make a full, complete and unconditional commitment, there would be no takeover.
Second, does Belichick really want Lombardi to publicly blame the NFL as “corrupt”? Belichick apparently didn’t come to that conclusion until after he made 7-for-one job offers last year, after the Patriots fired him. If the owner was smart enough to hire the greatest coach in the history of football (as Lombardi constantly calls him) and get out of his way, the NFL wouldn’t suddenly become so “broken.”
Unless Belichick revises the contract to eliminate the buyout, his path to the NFL remains. It would be cheaper for him to return to the major leagues in less than five months.
As long as that condition remains, nothing Lombardi says matters. Even if Belichick announces, “I will no longer be North Carolina’s coach,” his contract will include the escape hatch he undoubtedly requested.
