Bill Belichick working at UNC without signed contract: report

Bill Belichick has reportedly been working at North Carolina without a fully signed and executed contract, leading to yet more talk about whether he plans to jump to the NFL. But his general manager got out in front to correct the record on Belichick's plans.
North Carolina head football coach Bill Belichick has been working without a signed contract, but that's not necessarily a sign that he's entertaining a return to the NFL.
North Carolina head football coach Bill Belichick has been working without a signed contract, but that's not necessarily a sign that he's entertaining a return to the NFL. / Bob Breidenbach / USA TODAY NETWORK

Bill Belichick made the biggest wave during college football’s coaching carousel by taking the North Carolina job, but he’s apparently been working all this time without a signed contract.

That’s according to a CBS Sports report that claims Belichick is yet to put his name on the dotted line, which naturally led to another round of speculation about the coach’s future.

The situation could leave a “legal gray area about how much, if any, of a buyout would exist if Belichick left for the pros,” according to the report.

Belichick having not signed the contract theoretically raises questions about whether he would owe any of his buyout if he were to take another job, especially in the NFL.

But current convention around college football would seem to show that this isn’t necessarily a cause for concern.

It’s not entirely uncommon for head coaches to start work with their programs without having a fully signed and executed contract, and how there’s often a gap between their signing a term sheet, which outlines a contract’s details, and then signing the actual deal some time later.

Especially at North Carolina, where one person told CBS that the school has had coaches work for up to a year before they had an actual signed contract.

But when it’s Bill Belichick and there are NFL jobs still open, the rumor mill can’t help but make it a subject of conversation.

And where those rumors persist, Belichick’s deputies are prepared to shoot them down.

North Carolina general manager Michael Lombardi, one of Belichick’s first and most important hires at the program, addressed the speculation around his contract situation.

Don’t believe it, he says.

“Bill is recruiting in DC today and Baltimore tomorrow,” Lombardi said in an X post.

“His focus is on North Carolina football, hiring staff members and developing the team. The NFL isn’t an option so please stop making it one. Thank you.”

Belichick’s term sheet proposal indicates that he would owe the school a buyout of $10 million if he left the football program before June 1, 2025.

But that figure drops to just $1 million after that date, which naturally has NFL observers buzzing that Belichick could elect to bolt for the pros at that point.

Until the deal is actually signed, and that less expensive loophole remains, we can expect continued speculation around whether Belichick will actually go back to the league.

(CBS)

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James Parks
JAMES PARKS

James Parks is the founder and publisher of College Football HQ. He previously covered football for 247Sports and CBS Interactive. College Football HQ joined the Sports Illustrated Fannation Network in 2022.