Bill Belichick has signed on the dotted line.
After a report last week about Belichick not yet signing his UNC contract sparked more speculation about the 72-year-old potentially weighing a move back to the NFL, the university released Belichick’s full five-year contract Thursday after he signed it Wednesday.
The contract was posted on the school’s website in compliance with North Carolina open record laws, per ESPN; UNC is a public university.
Section 13 confirms the buyout details, with Belichick owing the university $10 million if he terminates the agreement before June 1 of this year.
“In the event Coach terminates this Agreement prior to June 1, 2025, Coach shall pay the University liquidated damages of Ten Million Dollars ($10,000,000),” the contract states. “In the event Coach terminates this Agreement on or after June 1, 2025, Coach shall pay the University liquidated damages of One Million Dollars ($1,000,000). Coach shall pay the liquidated damages amount within 180 days of Coach’s termination.”
Belichick’s base salary is $1 million per year, and he’ll received $9 million a year in supplemental income, which he gets for “program support and promotional activities,” “fundraising,” “media,” “use of coach’s name, image and likeness” and “manufacturer relationships.”
There are bonuses for number of games won per season, starting with $150,000 for eight wins. He can get as much as $350,000 if UNC wins 12 games.
Qualifying for the College Football Playoff would net Belichick a bonus of $750,000, which could increase to $1.75 million if UNC wins a national championship.
The contract agreement was entered into on Dec. 12, which allowed Belichick to begin his duties before the deal was officially executed.
Mike Lombardi, who Belichick brought on as the football program’s general manager, criticized reports linking Belichick to the NFL during an appearance on “The Pat McAfee Show” last week.
“I’m loud because I think so many of them, especially the one that keeps going on, is being generated by someone who doesn’t like our program, who doesn’t like me, who doesn’t like coach Belichick … they keep kicking something that doesn’t exist,” Lombardi said last Thursday.
Lombardi added that at the time, he also hadn’t yet signed his contract with the school.
That same day, Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, sent a message to the coach’s doubters by posting an Instagram photo of the two of them with the caption, “Pictured: two people who are overtly committed to @uncfootball.”
