Tom Brady "blown away" by Bill Belichick taking on $50,000,000 UNC job
NFL legend Tom Brady expressed his surprise with legendary New England Patriots coach Bill Belichick moving to the University of North Carolina. Brady joined many NFL personalities to chime in on Belichick pausing his search for an NFL job to take over at UNC.
Belichick was unveiled as the coach of the program this weekend and made it known that he has no plans of leaving the Tar Heels anytime soon.
Seven-time Super Bowl champion Tom Brady, during the Steelers vs Eagles broadcast, said about Belichick accepting a college football job:
“Kind of blew me away when I heard the news.
"I didn’t think that was an opportunity he was looking at. They are getting a tremendous coach. Those guys are going to play very hard. He’s going to coach them well. It’s a great benefit for all those players who are going to that program. They are getting the best coach the NFL has ever seen.”
Bill Belichick reportedly signed a five-year contract with UNC that will pay him $10 million a year. Per Bloomberg, Belichick's Patriots salary was closer to $25 million a year.
Can Bill Belichick still return to the NFL?
The Athletic's NFL insider Dianna Russini released a bombshell report on Saturday revealing that Bill Belichick sent feelers out to the New York Jets before taking up the job at UNC.
NFL reporter Peter Schrager confirmed Russini's report:
“Before he took the job, he did make a call to the New York Jets. I’d like to clarify he did not call Woody Johnson. The two of them do not have a relationship.
"He called Mike Tannenbaum who is running the search, and enquired if the Jets would be interested. The Jets said we’ll see but we’re going to want to interview a lot of candidates and that’s going to start in January. When Belichick heard that he said I need to act quickly. The College recruitment season is starting.”
If Bill Belichick leaves UNC after June 1 next year, per the terms of his agreement which were released publicly, he would owe the school only $1 million, a figure which would facilitate an easy return to the NFL.