Buccaneers Named as One Team That Would Hire Bill Belichick

The Bill Belichick era at North Carolina is off to a rocky start before he’s even coached a game in Chapel Hill.

So if Belichick decides he wants to jet, or if North Carolina wants to exercise his $1 million buyout before the season after the perceived distraction with girlfriend Jordan Hudson, he may end up with a soft landing spot.

The Buccaneers could be interested in hiring Belichick after the 2025, since rumors have begun swirling about current head coach Todd Bowles’ potential retirement.

Bowles has shut down retirement talk, at least for the moment. But he also may not have a choice if Tampa Bay makes the playoffs but does not win again, which would be the third time in four seasons that outcome would play out under the defensive-minded coach.

Why Would Bill Belichick Go To The Buccaneers?

Aside from his unceremonious exit from the New England Patriots, which happened shortly after Tom Brady won his record seventh Super Bowl with the Bucs, Belichick is chasing a hard-to-attain NFL record.

Belichick sits in third place on the NFL’s career wins list with 302, which is just 26 short of Don Shula’s record. The 72-year-old once seemed like a lock to surpass Shula, but Belichick’s 32-39 record in four seasons after Brady went to Tampa devastated his chances of becoming the all-time winningest coach.

Belichick would also surely love to coach a Super Bowl-caliber roster, which the Bucs have since they are a perennial playoff team and just five years removed from their most recent championship.

So, even though Belichick gained a $10 million annual salary in Chapel Hill, Pro Football Talk posited that Belichick could be a one-and-done college coach.

Why Would The Buccaneers Want Bill Belichick?

When Belichick was fired after the 2023 NFL season, the thought was he’d have his pick of head-coaching roles wherever there were vacancies.

But he took a year off and landed in Chapel Hill, as much because the Carolina administration wanted a brand name leading its football program as his potential winning games there.

So if Belichick, as expected, struggles to adapt to the college game and, with his buyout dropped from $10 million to just a million bucks, which took effect June 1, Pro Football Talk writer Mike Florio explained why he may bolt for the Buccaneers.

“The Bucs can’t be ruled out as a potential destination for Belichick,” Mike Florio wrote on the NBC Sports website Thursday. “Much of it depends on what the Bucs do (or don’t do) in 2025, and what the Tar Heels do (or don’t do) in 2025. … The Bucs have the talent; if ownership decides that an excellent game-day coach could get them back to the top of the mountain, it’s not as nutty as it may seem.”

Florio also referenced the Bucs history as a potential reason for them to target Belichick.

“Although Bowles has won the NFC South in each of his three seasons as Tampa Bay’s head coach, the Buccaneers have a unique history, to say the least, when it comes to the coaching position,” Florio wrote. “In 2009, they abruptly dumped Jon Gruden for Raheem Morris. Three years later, they hired Greg Schiano. They surprisingly fired Lovie Smith in 2016, apparently in order to avoid losing offensive coordinator Dirk Koetter to another team.

“And some still believe that Tom Brady’s unretirement in 2022 (after his path to Miami was blocked) was conditioned on Bruce Arians being nudged into retirement.”