Bill Belichick — or the North Carolina Tar Heels’ athletic department, or Jordon Hudson — posted from his Instagram account on Friday night that he “will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies.”
Specifically, Belichick named the New York Giants and their ownership to open the statement, with his name floated in rumors after the Giants fired head coach Brian Daboll on Monday.
And he finished the statement with a classic Belichick-esque line: “We’re on to Wake Forest.”
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I have great respect and genuinely care for the New York Giants organization and both the Mara and Tisch families. 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.
Belichick, 73, is 4-5 in his first season at North Carolina. It’s also his first season as a college coach in general, and after he put together a legendary coaching career in the NFL that featured six Super Bowl championships as head coach of the New England Patriots.
Last coaching cycle, Belichick showed NFL interest, but he only came away with an interview with the Atlanta Falcons before settling on going to the college ranks to coach North Carolina.
Belichick can deny any NFL interest at the moment, and especially while he’s trying to lead a bowl-hopeful team in the middle of the season, but it’s hard to imagine that there aren’t at least a few jobs that would have him considering a return to the league. The bigger question — as the last coaching cycle would suggest — might be if NFL organizations are interested in him at this stage of his career rather than the other way around.
About Matt Clapp
Matt is an editor/writer at The Comeback and Awful Announcing.
He can be reached by email at mclapp@thecomeback.com.