North Carolina AD Bubba Cunningham must’ve thought he struck a pot of gold when he heard Bill Belichick was moving to Chapel Hill. The whole of college football was antsy to see how the legendary NFL coach took to the other version of gridiron football. But neither thought that the veteran’s arrival in college football would see this kind of attention. UNC is now very much in the media glare. That goal is ticked off of Cunningham’s agenda. But hiring Bill Belichick is also costing the program on a lot of fronts. Is it possible that after this season, the biggest CFB hire of all time will backfire on a rejuvenated UNC program?
How much of Tar Heels football do you actually see in the news? Ever since the HC arrived at his first CFB job, Chapel Hill has become synonymous with Bill Belichick. Then, of course, there is Bill Belichick’s public relationship with Jordon Hudson. What’s become evident is that Bill Belichick, with an annual salary of a whopping 10 million, is taking the attention away from Tar Heels football. It’s not that he isn’t fulfilling the requirements of his job. He’s one of the best coaching minds the sport has ever seen and is surely going to impact the UNC team. But, for reasons uncalled for, Belichick’s hire is working inversely to what Cunningham and the school had planned for.
Seth Wickersham commented on the situation on ESPN’s This is Football. “If you’re the University of North Carolina and you made Bill Belichick the highest-paid employee, state employee, the one thing you probably thought you were getting was a buttoned-up, low-drama football program.” Which, of course, is the opposite of the reality.
“We don’t talk at all about their players. No, we don’t talk at all about how he’s going to, you know, drop schemes to slap around Dabo Swinney‘s offense.” How this new, much-touted NFL-like team faces the ACC juggernauts is a huge storyline that is seeing no attention at all.
“If you’re UNC and you made Bill Belichick the highest paid state employee, the *one* thing you probably thought you were getting was a buttoned-up, low-drama football program.” –@SethWickersham
We are curious to see Belichick’s teams on the actual football field! pic.twitter.com/cu4SL5lvlo
— Kevin Clark (@bykevinclark) June 2, 2025
Bill Belichick arrived at college football when his career was in limbo. After Tom Brady parted ways with him, he had 3 losing season in his last 4 years with the Patriots. His only shot at the NFL was an open HC position for the Falcons. But management shut its doors on the veteran, and some fans conspired that might be because Belichick wanted authority.
Without a job for the first time in decades, he explored options elsewhere. He pulled some strings and arrived in North Carolina, where things are shaping up the way Belichick wants them to be. Now, it looks like maybe Belichick wants out of the program.
Bill Belichick pulled a $9 million move on UNC with job contract
Some skeptics doubted the longevity of Bill Belichick in college football. His contract with the Tar Heels is for 5 years, at the end of which he’ll have $50 million. But June 1 marked an important part of the contract. Belichick’s payout prior to this date was $10 million. Now, it has dropped to just $1 million. With such a huge decrease, many are now doubting whether the veteran coach is truly in this job for the long run. Also, this term was negotiated by Bill Belichick himself, according to Front Office Sports.
But here’s the kicker. It’s not UNC that will pay that sum to Belichick if the program decides to close this chapter. The $1 million fee only applies if Belichick initiates the exit. The drop in the buyout has opened the exit doors wider for the HC to leave if things are not working for him in this new venture. If UNC were to let go of him before June 1, the school would pay Belichick $30 million because his first three years are guaranteed in the contract.
The Bill Belichick effect is working for the UNC in some ways. Before the season started, UNC sold out all its tickets for the home games. But that’s just one small step made in the direction that Cunningham wanted to play out. Will the attention caused by his relationship with Jordon Hudson finally get to his wits? Or will he persevere through it all and still hold his head high in the long run?
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