Bill Belichick Rumors: Some NFL Insiders Are 'Skeptical' of UNC Buzz Amid Talks

Even though Bill Belichick's first coaching interview in the 2025 cycle was with North Carolina, there's at least some doubt within the NFL that the future Hall of Famer will actually entertain the Tar Heels job.

Appearing on the Saturday morning edition of SportsCenter, ESPN's Jeremy Fowler reported some people in the league are "skeptical" about Belichick's interest in a college job:

"Some people I've talked to you believe that there is some genuine interest, that this isn't just some cursory interview. Now, some people around the NFL are a little bit skeptical, they believe that he wants to be back in the league, but as one source told me, Belichick just wants to coach. Take the politics out of it, or any sort of personnel control, that stuff, he just wants to be back on the field, back in the film room, working as a coach, despite doing the media stuff for the last four or five months. The University of Washington is key here, and I talked to some people With the Huskies that they believe the interest is real because his son Steve is the defensive coordinator there. The expectation is that he would go with Belichick to UNC and potentially make that a tandem pairing. And so we'll see what shakes out, but they're at least talking from a genuine spot, that this is not just, you know, some sort of folly."

Inside Carolina (h/t Grant Hughes of 247Sports) reported this week that Belichick met with North Carolina officials about the vacant head-coaching job.

It was apparently the first of two meetings between the two sides, as Jonathan Jones of CBS Sports reported they spoke again on Thursday.

Per The Athletic's Dianna Russini, Belichick is "one of several candidates" being considered by North Carolina, but one source familiar with his thinking "expects" he would take the job if offered.

Jones noted Belichick has "been open to all of it" regarding coaching vacancies this time around after he missed out on getting a job after parting ways with the New England Patriots following the 2023 season.

Per NFL Network's Tom Pelissero and Ian Rapoport, Belichick is "fairly serious" about college football and is doing "a lot of research" to brush up on the sport if he were to take a job at that level.

Belichick had two interviews with the Atlanta Falcons last offseason, but the team wound up hiring Raheem Morris as its head coach. The Falcons are the only team he was known to have met with.

There have been rumblings that Belichick has interest in the Jacksonville Jaguars if they move on from Doug Pederson at the end of this season.

Jones noted league sources cited the Jaguars as the "most obvious" NFL destination for Belichick. They are a franchise in which ownership doesn't really take a hands-on approach, which could be appealing to the 72-year-old given how much control he had during his tenure with the Patriots.

Jacksonville could also benefit from having a talented quarterback in Trevor Lawrence already on the roster.

If Belichick decides he wants to coach again but doesn't like the NFL jobs that come open, a college job like North Carolina wouldn't be a bad alternative. Mack Brown won at least eight games three times in four years prior to this season.

The Tar Heels fired Brown on Nov. 26 after finishing 6-6 in the regular season. He led the program to bowl appearances in each of his first five seasons as head coach.