Bill Belichick might never coach a single football game at North Carolina, according to a report from Pablo Torre.
On June 1, Belichick’s buyout drops from $10 million to $1 million, making his potential exit then more acceptable.
The buyout was initially framed as a way for the 73-year-old coaching legend, who signed a five-year, $50-million contract with the ACC school, to leave should he receive an NFL offer.
Asked on The Dan Le Batard Show if Belichick might not coach at UNC, Torre said, “Absolutely. June 1, man. Look at that contract. The buyout from the Belichick side of things drops from $10 million to ten times less, to $1 million, and the theory was he wanted an out if the NFL came sniffing around and said, ‘Oh, I would love to have Bill Belichick.’ I can tell you the NFL has no desire to get in business with Bill Belichick, especially not right now.
“And then the question becomes, does Bill want to remain there [at UNC] if his bosses are saying, ‘Look man, you can’t operate this way, you can’t embarrass our school this way,’ in which case he may not feel like he’s in charge anymore, in which case is it really worth it if all you really want to do is sit in the front row of the Miss Maine pageant watching your girlfriend, at age 24 get second runner up. If that’s what he wants out of this, I’m not here to yuck his yum. This is not a story about an age gap relationship. This is the story about power and who gets it. And everybody around Belichick got walked over by a very ambitious young prodigy named Jordon Hudson, who is driving that program into The ground. That is why I’m reporting the story.”
Former Patriots tight end Rob Gronkowski doesn’t see Belichick quitting before coaching at least one year.
“No, coach loves the game of football,” he said on 98.5 The Sports Hub. “He loves coaching the game of football big-time, he loves being around it.
“So I can’t see him signing up and just because there’s a speed bump in the way right now...I can’t see him quitting over that. I can see him possibly leaving after the first year, but I can see him put in the first year and see how it goes.”
Torre reported last week that North Carolina had banned Hudson from the school’s football facility, a report the school disputed.
“While Jordon Hudson is not an employee at the University or Carolina Athletics, she is welcome to the Carolina Football facilities,” the school said in a statement sent to NJ Advance Media. “Jordon will continue to manage all activities related to Coach Belichick’s personal brand outside of his responsibilities for Carolina Football and the University.”
Torre responded by saying on the Le Batard Show:
“The University of North Carolina can choose to describe or change its position on Jordon Hudson’s involvement however it wishes, following the publication of our episode. We requested comment and filed dozens of FOIA requests that were not satisfied. And we stand by the specific reporting in our episode, which came from the highest levels of the football program.”
For what it’s worth, Hall of Famer Troy Aikman said in December he hopes Belichick eventually returns to the NFL to chase Don Shula’s all-time wins record.
“He’s 14 wins away from getting to Don Shula, and I would have to believe that that’s really important to him,” Aikman said
“As someone that we all know is a historian when it comes to the NFL and to be atop that list, which would be very deserving for him and all that he’s accomplished. My hope is that if he does take the North Carolina job, my hope is that he does come back to the NFL at some point and get the opportunity to maybe surpass Don Shula and be atop that list.”
North Carolina plays its season-opener Sept. 1 against TCU.
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Adam Zagoria is a freelance reporter and Basketball Insider for NJ Advance Media. You may follow him on Twitter @AdamZagoria and check out his Website at ZAGSBLOG.com.