Bill Belichick Had Second Meeting For North Carolina HC Job

Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reports former Patriots HC Bill Belichick had a second meeting with North Carolina for their head coaching vacancy on Thursday in Manhattan. 

According to Ollie Connolly, negotiations between Belichick and North Carolina include a guarantee that his son, Stephen Belichick, will be named the school’s head coach in waiting. Stephen is currently the University of Washington’s defensive coordinator. 

Connolly mentions that UNC is “open” to the guarantee and Bill Belichick is not looking for leverage for NFL offers. 

It was first reported by Inside Carolina yesterday that Belichick met with UNC officials, but it appears they already previously interviewed with Thursday being the second time the two sides have spoken.

Jones cites sources around the league who believe this is a leverage play for Belichick to show teams around the NFL he’s still a desired option. However, Jones thinks a second meeting may indicate a level of interest from the former New England coach. 

Jones cites another source who also thinks Belichick is showing possible teams he’s not ready to shut down his coaching career. 

“It signals to NFL teams I have a lot of energy. That I’m not ready to shut it down,” the source said.

The Tar Heels moved on from former HC Mack Brown last week and since then have been connected to a few different professional coaches to fill their vacancy, including Steelers OC Arthur Smith who turned them down. 

Smith is a UNC alum but Belichick has no notable connections to the program, which makes this a little interesting. Belichick is widely believed to be targeting a return to the NFL sidelines in this upcoming coaching cycle. 

Belichick, 71, got his start coaching in the NFL in 1975 with the then-Baltimore Colts. He had assistant jobs with the Lions and Broncos before landing with the Giants, where he eventually rose to defensive coordinator under legendary HC Bill Parcells. 

The Browns hired Belichick as head coach in 1991 and he was in the post for five years before being fired. He rejoined Parcells as an assistant with the Patriots and left to go with him to the Jets the following year.

He was slated to replace Parcells as head coach of the Jets in 2000 but infamously resigned and was hired by the Patriots, who had to give up a first-round pick to the Jets as compensation. Belichick has been in New England ever since, winning six Super Bowls in 24 years. 

For his career, Belichick has a record of 302-163 over 29 seasons (.655 W/L percentage) and has eight Super Bowl rings, six of them as head coach of the Patriots. He’s a three-time winner of the AP Coach of the Year award. 

We’ll have more on Belichick as the news is available.