While North Carolina Tar Heels football general manager Michael Lombardi insisted earlier this month that Bill Belichick is committed to the university, some suggested after former Detroit Lions offensive coordinator Ben Johnson rejected the Las Vegas Raiders to become the next head coach of the Chicago Bears that Raiders minority owner Tom Brady could reach out to Belichick regarding the club’s head-coaching opening.
During an appearance on OutKick’s “The Ricky Cobb Show,” Lombardi once again repeated that Belichick won’t leave the Tar Heels without ever coaching a game for them to return to the NFL this year.
“Bill knows the landscape of the NFL better than most fans do,” Lombardi explained, as shared by Ryan Gaydos of Fox News Digital. “And if Bill thought there was a job out there that was enticing to him, he would not have made the move to North Carolina.”
Some previously wondered if Dallas Cowboys owner and general manager Jerry Jones could pursue Belichick after the club parted ways with former head coach Mike McCarthy, but that was before current Cowboys offensive coordinator Brian Schottenheimer emerged as the betting favorite to win the Dallas gig.
Former Seattle Seahawks head coach Pete Carroll is believed to be the Raiders’ top choice with Johnson no longer available, but NFL Network’s Tom Pelissero raised some eyebrows when he mentioned on Monday that Brady had “spoken with Bill Belichick about the job as well” this offseason.
“He wasn’t looking for a job,” Lombardi said about Belichick. “He wasn’t collecting unemployment. He wasn’t hoping for someone to hire him. He knew there was great opportunities if he wanted to go into the NFL. What we also knew was the NFL is a slippery slope in the sense that there’s a lot of politicalness that goes on. You’re answering to a lot of different people. There’s an agenda within buildings.”
Lombardi added that he and Belichick want to “build a program here the right way” at UNC.
Belichick reportedly had signed only a term sheet proposal and not a contract with North Carolina as of late last week. He’s still only 15 wins away from breaking Don Shula’s NFL record for career victories earned by a head coach (regular season and postseason combined), but Lombardi sounds convinced the living legend is done with pro football for now.
