The UNC Tar Heels is a fabled school in the collegiate sports paradigm. However, that stems from the hardwood, not the gridiron. When the football program abruptly gave their winningest HC Mack Brown, the proverbial boot, most expected them to pivot. Pivot into perhaps chancing on a young, up-and-coming coach garnering plaudits somewhere as a coordinator. Maybe even lure a head coach elsewhere to jump ship. What transpired is the most shocking revelation to hit the sport in aeons- they hired Bill Belichick.

Fans and the media sphere weren’t the only ones appalled at Belichick, taking what is naturally perceived as a downward step. Even people with direct working relationships with him stand bemused by this career choice. So much so that there’s an underlying yet prevalent belief that he won’t last long in North Carolina. Belichick himself has quashed the talks.

“I didn’t come here to leave. I’ve always wanted to coach in college football … this is a dream come true,” the six-time Super Bowl champion said during his introductory press conference two weeks back. And looks like he has also found his success formula in Nick Saban. “I watched him [Saban] at Alabama put together essentially his scouting and evaluation staff. Now, I’m copying a lot of things that I watched him do there and learned from the system that he installed there,” Belichick had said. But despite all these, NFL veteran and former assistant to Belichick at the Patriots, Chris Simms, is not very optimistic about the stint.

Simms made his weekly appearance on the God Bless Football podcast to dissect Bill Belichick’s newfound disposition. Off the bat, he was asked whether he was surprised at Belichick’s decision. Chris Simms concurred. He also proceeded to earmark his reasoning for why he thinks this stint will be short-lived. He pointed to one particular stipulation in his contract.

“Now, do I believe he’s going to stay there [for] long? Absolutely not. I mean, the buyout tells you everything. Starting this June, he can be bought out for couch-cushion change from NFL owners. I mean, come on. A million dollars? Belichick has got a million dollars of cash he could [pull out of] his pocket and pay that off. I mean, Belichick, that’s nothing, he’s worth hundreds of millions, like that’s nothing. So that alone tells me he doesn’t want to stay there long term.” remarked Chris Simms.

Bill Belichick’s UNC contract initially has a $10 million buyout, but this is rather fallacious. This figure drops down to $1 million on June 1, 2025. Before the NFL and CFB seasons even begin. So why did he embark on this venture? According to Nick Saban, “I think he probably wanted a new challenge and this is certainly going to be a great challenge for him.”

Summing up his argument, Simms said, “Am I shocked he’s going to college? Definitely. Did I think there’s a team [NFL] out there that would latch on to Belichick? I did think that.”

Conventional wisdom dictated that Bill Belichick’s next foray at the sidelines would indeed come in the NFL. With the multitude of franchises parting with their coaches, it seemed imminent that one of them would swoop in for him. After all, he’s arguably the greatest defensive mind the sport has seen. The proverbial GOAT. That holds true, but scratching beneath the conspicuous surface makes it apparent why owners and GMs refrained from hiring Bill Belichick.

Reason for the NFL’s aversion to Bill Belichick is not coaching-related

The downturn towards the end of his New England tenure is only one facet of why franchises weren’t chomping at the bit for Belichick. The biggest hindrance to his return to the NFL is his tendency to become the de-facto GM, in control of front-office activities such as recruitment. This rubbed Patriots owner Robert Kraft the wrong way. The friction between the two has caused Kraft to explicitly voice his disdain at Belichick. With how much reverence Robert Kraft has amongst his fellow owners, it’s not a surprise that teams were swayed. 

Chris Simms also adhered to this hypothesis. He stated, “[Belichick’s] age, his control, his demeanor- everything that comes along with him…Some organizations are gonna be like, ‘Wait. We don’t want to deal with that. We don’t know how much longer he’s gonna coach, and we’re not just gonna give him free reign to take over everything if he’s only going to be here for two or three years. ”

However, that’s not it. Simms goes on to give more reasons for why other NFL teams may not be too keen on having arguably the GOAT of NFL coaching. “Belichich has treated most of the NFL like sh-t for the last 20 years. I don’t mean in [terms of] disrespectful. It’s just the Patriots are so, you know, uptight and quiet. They don’t talk to anybody. He doesn’t let coaches talk to other coaches on the field pregame.”

That led to a perception among fellow coaches that the Patriots were arrogant at the height of their dynasty run. “They’ve burned bridges there. So, there’s a lot of people in football that just wouldn’t want to deal with Belichick in general,” Simms said.

That said, it’s understandable why Belichick took the UNC job. The relationship is potentially a lot more reciprocal. Belichick can fulfill his front-office tendencies since recruitment is a major part of what a CFB head coaching job entails. Building up his somewhat diminished stature as a coach through the college game could’ve been enticing for the now 72-year-old.

In return for this, UNC gets a go at a figurehead who can single-handedly change the trajectory of its program. This is already showing in their transfer portal activity. One thing is irrefutable. Football is in a better place, with Bill Belichick permeating his experience and acumen through to malleable college kids at the onset of their careers.