How likely is Brady-Belichick reunion in Vegas? Giardi and Curran weigh in originally appeared on NBC Sports Boston
“I didn’t come here to leave.”
That was Bill Belichick’s response to whether he would consider leaving his new job at the University of North Carolina for an NFL head coaching position. Not even one month after making that statement at his introductory press conference, his word will be put to the test.
NFL Media’s Tom Pelissero reported Wednesday that legendary New England Patriots quarterback Tom Brady, now the minority owner of the Las Vegas Raiders, reached out to his former head coach about the vacant Raiders position. Multiple NFL teams have inquired about whether Belichick would reconsider his move to college football, Pelissero added.
Would Belichick entertain the idea of reuniting with Brady in Vegas? On Wednesday’s Early Edition, Boston Sports Journal’s Mike Giardi was asked where he believes Belichick will coach in 2025.
“North Carolina,” Giardi answered without hesitation. “Look, he made a commitment to them. He got his son to come there from the University of Washington. I wouldn’t be surprised if his other son, Brian, heads down there at some point. I think there’s some other Patriot-adjacent coaches that are gonna head in that direction.
“I think he’s kind of intrigued by the challenge, and I think in his head at least for this season, he’s turned the page and is thinking about having success in the college level and not doing it in the pros. Who knows what happens next year, but it just feels like he’s gone down the road with them now, and to do what that would be like is pretty crazy.”
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As captivating of a storyline as it would be, Curran doesn’t see how the rebuilding Raiders would benefit from bringing in Belichick and his disciples.
“Aside from the simple fact that the Patriots always believed that bad teams stay bad because they make bad decisions, that would be what the Raiders were doing,” Curran said. “What are they gonna do? They’re gonna bring up Bill — and I don’t have a problem with Belichick’s assistant coaches, but who’s your GM gonna be? Mike Lombardi? He really hasn’t been a GM in the league. … I just don’t know how that is going to immediately transfer into taking the Las Vegas Raiders into the rest of this decade on an uptick.
“Bill’s record speaks for itself over the final four years he was here in New England, as does the relationship between Tom and Bill. They can put a buff and shine on it as much as they want. And Tom Brady is a love guy, he is a peace guy, and he has attained that with Bill because Bill, with no ax to grind on Tom anymore, has seen it’s best for the brand for those guys to be Siamese twins wedged together. ‘It was never a problem.’ But there was a problem. So it’d be very fascinating if they went there.”
Belichick has a $10 million buyout if he leaves prior to June 1, Pelissero reported. That seems extremely unlikely, however, as The Athletic’s Dianna Russini reports Belichick has “no plans to return to the NFL” and his “sole focus” is on “coaching and recruiting for North Carolina.”
Watch the full segment from Early Edition below or on YouTube: