While Bill Belichick hasn’t yet given any public indication he would leave the North Carolina Tar Heels without having ever coached a game for them, whispers continue to suggest he would welcome a return to the NFL and the opportunity to break Don Shula’s league record for career victories earned by a head coach (regular season and postseason combined).
On Monday, Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio shared that the fact that “Belichick has yet to hire many staff members” at North Carolina has UNC “bracing for the possibility that Belichick will be gone not long after he arrived.” Florio added that UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham and ACC Commissioner James J. Phillips are among noteworthy individuals who are allegedly “nervous” about Belichick’s true intentions.
After it was reported last week that Las Vegas Raiders minority owner Tom Brady “spoke recently” with Belichick “about what it would take to make a reunion happen in Las Vegas,” North Carolina general manager Mike Lombardi insisted that Belichick was “one thousand percent committed” to the Tar Heels.
Meanwhile, a Dallas Cowboys team that may have been interested in Belichick last winter is about to have head coach Mike McCarthy become a free agent. Perhaps Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones views Belichick as a potential replacement if McCarthy explores his options.
Florio also revived a rumor from this past fall and said that “the one potential destination to watch” as it pertains to Belichick is the Tampa Bay Buccaneers. Todd Bowles has guided Tampa Bay to three straight division titles, but his teams have now lost three of four playoff games.
“Lombardi was publicly spreading the rumor that Bowles might retire before Belichick took the North Carolina job,” Florio continued. Bowles said in December he is “definitely not retiring,” and the JoeBucsFan website noted that Buccaneers general manager Jason Licht endorsed Bowles shortly after Tampa Bay suffered a heartbreaking 23-20 home wild-card playoff loss to the Washington Commanders on Sunday night.
Florio was sure to point out that Belichick returning to the NFL “likely won’t happen this year,” but it sounds like some are convinced the 72-year-old would accept an offer from a franchise as soon as later this month.