The North Carolina Tar Heels have had a tumultuous 2025 season to kick off the Bill Belichick era in Chapel Hill. Despite this, Belichick further reaffirmed his commitment to the program in light of recent rumors tying him to an NFL return.
Shortly after the New York Giants parted ways with head coach Brian Daboll on Monday, Belichick’s name emerged as a potential dark-horse candidate for the Giants to potential consider.
On paper, the fit would be a natural one given that Belichick spent over a decade in New York as an assistant coach early in his coaching career. However, prior to North Carolina’s Week 12 game against Wake Forest on Saturday, Belichick addressed the rumors for likely the last time.
In a statement retrieved by NFL Network’s Ian Rapoport, Belichick explained that while he has “great respect” for the Giants organization and their ownership group, he “has not and will not” be pursuing any NFL head coaching vacancies.
“I have great respect and genuinely care for the New York Giants organization and both the Mara and Tisch families,” wrote Belichick. “The New York Giants played an important role in my life and in my coaching journey. It was a privilege for me to work for the Mara family and be a member of Coach Parcells' staff for over a decade. However, despite circulating rumors, I have not and will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies.
“Since arriving in Chapel Hill, my commitment to the UNC Football program has not waivered. We have tremendous support from the university, our alumni, and the entire Carolina community. My focus remains solely on continuing to improve this team, develop our players, and build a program that makes Tar Heel fans proud. We’re on to Wake Forest.”
It’s unclear whether the Giants truly had any interest in Belichick to begin with. Notably, prior to the 2024 NFL season, Belichick didn’t exactly field much interest around the league, which led to him taking a one-year absence from coaching prior to taking the Tar Heels job.
Still, this announcement likely means that Belichick will continue to be the coach of the Tar Heels past the 2025 season barring a disastrous end to the year.
Things have been looking up for UNC as of late, winning their last two ACC games after dropping their first three conference games. So it will surely be interesting to see if the future Hall of Fame coach can build on this newfound momentum and inspire some confidence for his second season at North Carolina in 2026.
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