Bill Belichick’s coaching tenure at the University of North Carolina has gone just about as poorly as anyone could have possibly anticipated through the first six weeks of the 2025 college football season. And the lack of on-field results, along with the off-field controversies, could very well spell a premature end to his collegiate coaching tenure.
If it were based strictly on UNC’s on-field performance, Belichick likely wouldn’t have lasted past the team’s 38-10 loss in Week 6 to Clemson, the third game this season against a Power 5 conference team that his team has lost by over three touchdowns.
However, given the fact that the first three years of Belichick’s five-year $50 million contract as the head coach at UNC are fully guaranteed, UNC would need to pay Belichick $30 million if he were to be fired before December of 2027.
This served as a roadblock to UNC getting out of the Bill Belichick coaching experience without a significant penalty. But fortunately, the program may have very well been given a lifeline due to an off-field controversy happening under Belichick’s watch.
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On Tuesday, UNC suspended secondary coach Armond Hawkins for allegedly providing extra benefits to the families of players. According to Pat Welter of WRAL, this decision came because of players allegedly selling spare tickets, which is a direct violation of NCAA guidelines.
The violation of NCAA rules happening under Belichick’s watch may very well just give UNC the opening to not only fire Belichick, but also do so and be completely off the hook of paying his hefty buyout.
This is at least the argument that Pro Football Talk’s Mike Florio raised in a recent article on the matter after learning of this violation, which he believes qualifies as grounds to fire Belichick for cause and therefore nullify his buyout clause.
Coincidentally, it seems as if UNC may seem to realize the opportunity they may have to undo the mistake they seem to have made in hiring Belichick in the first place.
According to Andrew Jones of 247 Sports, UNC has begun discussion around a “potential exit strategy” regarding Belichick’s employment at the program, though there are no firm decisions that have been made just yet.
This obviously begs the question. Just how long of a leash is UNC willing to give Belichick before ultimately deciding to part ways with him?
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Well, UNC Board of Trustees chairman Malcolm Turner did preach patience regarding Belichick’s early-season struggles back in September. But given all of the concerning things coming out of Chapel Hill, both on and off the field, that very patience may be wearing thin in short order.
UNC is on a Bye Week in Week 7, which will give the higher-ups within the athletic department plenty of time to discuss the possibility of firing Belichick.
Chances are, unless even more concerning information emerges about scandals happening under Belichick’s watch, he will likely get at least one more chance to save his job in a Week 8 game against the Cal Golden Bears.
But if Week 8 proves as another example that UNC is just not capable of competing against Power 5 competition, that game could very well bring an end to what has been a truly disastrous coaching tenure for Belichick.