Bill Belichick Signs Contract At UNC

According to Jonathan Jones, citing official documents, North Carolina HC Bill Belichick has officially signed his contract. 

The lack of a signature made some headlines as the speculation about how firm Belichick’s commitment to the Tar Heels would be in the face of NFL interest continued. 

Strange as it sounds, it’s not actually uncommon in the college coaching world for coaches to work off of just a term sheet proposal while the actual contract is finalized. 

However, the lack of a signature raised questions about whether the school could enforce the $10 million buyout in the deal, which already seemed like a tenuous hold on Belichick if he truly wanted to return to the NFL. 

Now it’s a moot point, and people close to Belichick have consistently maintained he wants to be at North Carolina. 

Belichick, 72, 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 won six Super Bowls in 24 years in New England before being let go at the end of the 2023 season. 

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.