After a week of rumors that he was exploring ways to leave North Carolina before his first disastrous season has even ended, embattled coach Bill Belichick met with the media on Monday to reaffirm his commitment to the program.
“Some of the reports out last week about my looking for a buyout and trying to leave here and all that, it’s just categorically false,” he said. “There’s zero truth to any of that.”
That shouldn’t be a surprise. If Belichick quits, gets fired or “mutually parts ways” with UNC, his coaching career is almost certainly done.
What options does he actually have? The NFL wasn’t interested in him as a head coach even before things imploded at Carolina, and this disaster certainly hasn’t made him more appealing.
College is out too for obvious reasons. Maybe Navy would consider him, given his devotion and connection to the school. Maybe. But that would only even be an option if Brian Newberry, the current head coach who has been both successful (currently 5-0) and popular, left for another job, which isn’t likely.
Would Belichick consider taking a defensive coordinator job or an assistant head coach position with an NFL team? Would he be willing to swallow his pride and take a job where he’s not in charge?
The bigger question might be: Are there any coaches who would consider hiring him? Working with Belichick is not for everyone. A coach has to be confident enough not to feel threatened by him, but not so confident to think he would benefit from having Belichick on staff.
There aren’t many of Belichick’s old friends in positions to hire him anymore.
So the six-time Super Bowl winner will be motivated to hang on at Carolina and try to right the ship and prevent his final chapter from being an abject failure.
It’s not just for himself. If Belichick’s Carolina stint ends in disaster, the coaching careers of his sons, Steve and Brian Belichick, will be damaged.
It won’t be easy, but as long as Carolina gives him another year, things can turn around.
The beauty of college football right now is that any coach can flip a roster through transfers and NIL. North Carolina could be a lot better next year if he plays his cards correctly.
If he’s wise, he’ll do a few things.
1. Shake up his staff — Belichick needs experienced college coaches. His absurd arrogance that he could show up and try to run things like an NFL team was a mistake. He needs to add veteran guys and lean on their expertise for recruiting, talent evaluation and running a program.
Even if that means demoting or firing his friends, his sons or his friends’ sons.
2. Abandon the whole run this like an NFL team idea — It didn’t work. Develop relationships with players and encourage coaches to do the same.
3. Change his approach to recruiting. —Get out there. Make phone calls. Spend every night the rulebook allows watching high school players.
4. Give back some money — If Belichick really wants to send the message that he’s invested, he should put his money where his mouth is. Nothing will get the boosters back on his side like becoming one.
He could donate $3 million of his $10 million salary in 2026 to the school’s pool of NIL money. He’ll still be making $7 million and the gesture will buy him goodwill and good players. He badly needs both.
5. Be out there. — Belichick doesn’t need to morph into P.J. Fleck overnight, but the Gruffalo Bill act isn’t working. Shake more hands. Attend a few more events and create some allies on campus. Simply, he should make his Manningcast guest persona, his professional personality.
Create some actual goodwill. Send pizzas to the fraternities and pose for pictures with fans.
6. Make Jordon Hudson a very visible face of some charitable endeavor — Right now, Belichick’s much-younger girlfriend is a punch line and a symbol that he might be distracted. She should pick a charity or charities and get her picture taken regularly donating her time to them. The UNC Children’s Hospital could probably use a volunteer fundraiser. How about the North Carolina Marine & Estuary Foundation, which is that state’s version of her work with Maine fishermen? Make-A-Wish? National Cancer Society? There’s no lack of options.
7. Stop obsessing about the Patriots — According to Dianna Russini, Belichick and those around him suspect that some of the anonymous-sourced stories about Belichick’s Carolina mess have roots in New England. That is both absurd and another sign of how out of touch Belichick is when it comes to running a college program.
Those rumors and leaks are almost certainly coming from one or more of the following groups: Parents who think he’s not playing or paying their kids enough. Opposing coaches who will recruit against him and vexed campus administrators, who didn’t want to hire him in the first place.
The Patriots are thriving without him now. They don’t need to start rumors to make him look bad. TCU, UCF and Clemson have that job well taken care of.
Belichick should not only let his animosity go but make a spectacle of doing so. Let the Patriots’ scouts back into practice and ask alum Drake Maye to Zoom into his quarterback meeting during the Patriots’ bye week.
8. Learn from the criticism — He should break down the criticism of himself the way he has broken down so many game films over the course of his career. Recognize his mistakes, give a little, bend a little and even smile a little.
It beats getting fired.
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