Bill Belichick contract details: Report shows salary for UNC coach

How much North Carolina is prepared to pay Bill Belichick to coach its football team, and how long the school figures to keep him around.

North Carolina is ready to make a big investment in Bill Belichick to lead its football program. / Bob Breidenbach / USA TODAY NETWORK

North Carolina will make an extraordinary investment to sign legendary NFL head coach Bill Belichick to lead its football program, but with a shorter deal than most may have expected.

Carolina and the 72-year-old Belichick agreed to a contract worth $30 million and will last over the next three football seasons, according to a report from The Athletic.

That marks a significant increase from the $5 million North Carolina paid Mack Brown in his final season at the school, despite him being a previous NCAA national champion.

But the length of the deal was notable, lasting a shorter amount of time than most newly-hired coaches at the college football level typically receive.

An initial contract term of four or five years has emerged as a kind of industry standard when schools bring on new leadership, raising some questions about Belichick’s expected tenure and any potential effects on recruiting and talent acquisition.

Belichick has never coached at the collegiate level, but needs no introduction given his career as arguably the single most successful head coach in NFL history.

A living legend in coaching circles, Belichick has won eight Super Bowl championships in his career, including six as head coach of the New England Patriots, and two more as defensive coordinator of the New York Giants.

Belichick’s arrival could herald a new era in college football, as the coach stated that he wants to revamp the Tar Heels program to more resemble an NFL organization.

To that end, he reportedly submitted an “organizational bible” of some 400 pages to the school, outlining in detail exactly what kind of support staff he would require to realize his vision.

“The college program would be a pipeline to the NFL for the players that had the ability to play in the NFL,” Belichick said on The Pat McAfee Show.

“It would be a professional program, training, nutrition, scheme, coaching, techniques that would transfer to the NFL.

“It would be an NFL program at a college level and an education that would get the players ready for their career after football, whether that was (at) the end of their college career or at the end of their pro career.

“But it would be geared toward developing the player, time management, discipline, structure and all that, that would be life skills, regardless of whether they’re in the NFL or somewhere in the business.”

It’s a vision that Belichick will have at least three years to bring to life.

-

More college football from SI: Top 25 Rankings | Schedule | Teams

Follow College Football HQ: Bookmark | Rankings | Picks