The head coaching cycle is in full swing in the NFL, and another team joined the mix on Monday when the Las Vegas Raiders fired Antonio Pierce after his first full season with the team. The Raiders are once again looking for a new head coach, and according to a recent report, the team’s minority owner Tom Brady reached out to his former coach Bill Belichick to see if he’d want to return to the NFL.
Belichick and Brady spent two decades together authoring one of the greatest dynasties in sports history with the New England Patriots. After parting ways with the team at the conclusion of the 2023 campaign, Belichick didn’t land a head coaching gig for the 2024 season, before landing with the North Carolina Tar Heels after they fired Mack Brown. However, Brady and the Raiders were among several teams who recently reached out to Belichick to see if he’d reconsider his move to North Carolina in favor of returning to the NFL.
“Multiple NFL teams have inquired about whether legendary coach Bill Belichick would reconsider his move to college football – including the Raiders, whose new minority owner Tom Brady spoke recently with his old coach, per league sources,” Tom Pelissero reported in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
Bill Belichick’s UNC contract includes a $10 million buyout if he leaves prior to June 1, 2025, though it’s not entirely clear whether it would apply if he returns to the NFL in the coming weeks. Six NFL HC jobs are open: #Jets, #Saints, #Bears, #Patriots, #Jaguars and #Raiders. https://t.co/avPvRs0nNX
— Tom Pelissero (@TomPelissero) January 8, 2025
Could Bill Belichick spurn North Carolina to team up with Tom Brady, Raiders?
Belichick’s move to college football always seemed a bit odd, but he has jumped into his new gig with North Carolina feet first. However, after he was unable to land a head coaching gig last year, it seems like things could be different this time around. In fact, he could team up with Brady again if he wanted, as the Raiders appear to have interest in Belichick if he wanted to return to the NFL after all.
In the event this sort of move were to happen, whichever team hires him would have to pay a $10 million buyout to North Carolina. It may seem unlikely, but Belichick isn’t unfamiliar with spurning a team at the last minute; in fact, that’s how his stint with the Patriots started, as he informed the New York Jets right before his introductory press conference as their new head coach that he’d be going to New England. It’s a crazy hypothetical, but with interest in the NFL clearly existing, all eyes will be on Belichick to see what his next move ends up being.
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