North Carolina held "preliminary conversations" about Bill Belichick exit strategy, per report

North Carolina brass held "preliminary conversations" about "potential exit strategy discussions" regarding flailing first-year head coach Bill Belichick on Wednesday morning, according to a report from Andrew Jones of TarHeel247. 

Jones wrote, in his opinion, it is not a lock Belichick coaches UNC's road game at Cal next Friday night, Oct. 18. According to the report, North Carolina could use violations by assistants as a cudgel to remove itself from Belichick's contract. Cornerbacks coach Armond Hawkins was suspended earlier this week for providing extra benefits to players and their families, according to The Athletic.

Attempting such a move would be no slam-dunk. Former Kansas AD Jeff Long attempted to do the same to former head coach David Beaty after firing him in 2018 and ended up out of a job himself. Beaty was owed a mere $3 million. According to the term sheet released by North Carolina last winter, Belichick's $10 million salary is fully guaranteed through the 2027 season. That term sheet includes boilerplate language about adhering to applicable rules as put forth by the university and its governing bodies.

The Belichick era became a mess for North Carolina before it even started. UNC board chairman John Preyer went over AD Bubba Cunningham's head to make overtures to Belichick -- using current US Secretary of State Marco Rubio as an intermediary. As the story went, the Preyer faction of the board wanted revenge for Cunningham firing former head coach Mack Brown before the end of the 2024 season. Last month, a lawsuit was filed by a former employee against the Board of Trustees for alleged illegal methods in the Belichick hiring. 

Off the field, Belichick has brought one embarrassment after another to the program. His disastrous book tour was one of the sports stories of the spring. The on-again, off-again nature of a docu-series was a constant source of controversy, with a Hulu series now off, due to the team's struggles on the field. On Tuesday, WRAL in North Carolina published a long story about fractures within the program, with players and their families complaining of lack of communication with Belichick and preferential treatment toward the new staff's recruits. "It's an unstructured mess," a source with first-hand knowledge of the program told WRAL. "There's no culture, no organization. It's a complete disaster."

That's played out on the field as well, where thus far North Carolina has been non-competitive against three Power 4 opponents. The Heels lost to TCU, UCF and Clemson by a combined 120-33. Earlier this week, FootballScoop published a letter from Michael Lombardi, the highest-paid general manager in college football, asking donors for patience. 

All this to say, many enemies were made in the process of bringing the 6-time Super Bowl champion to Chapel Hill, and many more have been made since his arrival. There are plenty of axes to grind within the University of North Carolina, and plenty of reasons to leak that the Belichick era could end after not five seasons, but five games. Stay tuned. 

Update: Writer Ollie Connolly has reported Belichick and North Carolina have discussed buyout options.