Bill Belichick’s buyout structure if North Carolina fired him is exceptionally unusual for a college football coaching contract.
First three years of Bill Belichick’s deal are fully guaranteed, but buyout drops to $0 in Year 4.
Bill Belichick effect for UNC goes beyond record. See the attendance figures.
Tucked onto the 18th page of Bill Belichick’s North Carolina coaching contract resides a most consequential paragraph.
Officially, it’s item 12(b).
Unofficially, this paragraph amounts to North Carolina’s escape hatch.
The paragraph outlines UNC’s financial obligations if it fires Belichick without cause at any point before the end of his five-year contract. Which, seems relevant. The Tar Heels are 2-3 in Belichick’s first season, including three blowout losses in games against Power Four opponents.
Belichick earns $10.1 million in annual compensation. His contract, though, includes $0 in financial severance if he’s fired in the final two seasons of his term.
This amounts to an exceptionally unusual buyout structure for an initial contract within college football’s ecosystem.
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Belichick’s deal is scheduled to be worth a sum of more than $50 million in total compensation, of which $30 million, or about 60%, is guaranteed.
That percentage is not particularly unusual. Here’s what is: Belichick’s compensation is 100% guaranteed throughout the first three years of his deal. In other words, North Carolina will owe Belichick $10 million a year for three years regardless of whether he’s fired, so long as he’s not fired for cause. However, in the final two years of the deal, 0% is guaranteed.
“I have never seen any contract where there is a three-year guarantee and no guarantee in the last two years,” said Martin Greenberg, an expert sports lawyer and former law professor at Marquette. “This is an anomaly and something that is the first of its kind. There is absolutely nothing to compare this to.”
Starting on Jan. 1, 2028, Belichick could be fired without cause at no cost to the university, under his contract terms.
In effect, Belichick’s contract amounts to a three-year pledge that’s masquerading as a five-year deal.
“This is an experiment,” Greenberg said, “and, basically, this experiment involves three years of guaranteed money.”
Although the contract’s severance structure is an outlier by industry norms, it reflects the reality of Belichick’s situation. He’s 73, and he’d never coached a college program before.
“The phrasing of this deal, being seemingly a three-year deal with two years put on the back, seems to make a lot more sense through the prism that Bill Belichick is currently the oldest coach in the country, and he’s never coached in college,” said Dan Lust, a sports law attorney at Moritt Hock & Hamroff LLP in New York and a professor at New York Law School who hosts the “Conduct Detrimental” sports law podcast.
Bill Belichick’s annual compensation tops $10 million
In the meantime, the six-time Super Bowl champion is cashing in.
His $10.1 million compensation ranks ninth nationally and tops that of Tennessee’s Josh Heupel ($9 million), Penn State’s James Franklin ($8.5 million), Indiana’s Curt Cignetti ($8.3 million) and Arizona State’s Kenny Dillingham ($7.4 million), a quartet of Power Four coaches whose teams made the playoff last season.
Belichick also enjoys a bonus structure that would award him up to a maximum bonus of $3.35 million this season if North Carolina won the national championship and he achieved other markers. Some bonuses are more attainable than others. For instance, he’d earn a $150,000 bonus if North Carolina qualified for a low-level bowl game.
North Carolina contract allows Bill Belichick an offramp, too
The contract also establishes an offramp for Belichick if he were to leave for another job. Since June 1, Belichick would owe just $1 million for leaving before the end of his deal. That’s cheap, by industry standards.
“I didn’t come here to leave,” Belichick said after he accepted the job.
Where would he go? North Carolina’s performance reduces the likelihood other suitors will come knocking.
Coaching contracts rarely reach their conclusion. Either Belichick will be fired, retire or otherwise depart UNC before the end of his deal, or he’ll receive a contract extension or amended deal before the contract reaches its end point. An amended contract could alter the terms of his buyout.
College football buyout structures vary by contract
There’s no singular buyout structure to which the industry adheres. Severance language varies from contract to contract. The most coach-friendly contract guarantees 100% of the compensation for the full term of the deal.
Jimbo Fisher helped launch this type of contract with a mega-deal and subsequent extension at Texas A&M. Fisher was due full compensation, through the end of his term, whether he thrived or fizzled. When the Aggies fired him with eight years remaining on his deal, Fisher was owed a buyout exceeding $75 million, smashing the industry record.
Penn State’s Franklin signed a guaranteed contract similar to Fisher’s, ensuring his full compensation would be paid out if he’s fired.
Some coaches have a fixed-figure buyout, while others have a ladder structure, with the severance amount stepping down incrementally as the contract progresses.
Other contracts have a percentage-based buyout structure. That’s the case for Florida’s Billy Napier, a coach on the hot seat. He signed a seven-year contract in 2021 scheduled to be worth $51.8 million, with 85% of his remaining compensation guaranteed if he’s fired without cause at any point during the term.
North Carolina got off cheap, by industry standards, when it fired Mack Brown last year with three seasons left on his deal. It owed him $2.8 million, paid in installments.
Bill Belichick effect shows in sellouts, if not in wins
Beli ball soured quickly. His Tar Heels look a mess on the field, giving the appearance of being one of the Power Four’s worst teams. Belichick’s initial value to North Carolina extended beyond the team’s record. A winner of six Super Bowls as coach of the New England Patriots, he’s magnetized attention and attendance.
A burgeoning football program could make North Carolina even more appealing to the Big Ten or the SEC, the nation’s richest and most powerful conferences, if conference realignment reignites in the 2030s, as some industry pundits believe will happen.
The Tar Heels sold out each of their six home games for 2025, before the season began. The home fans keep witnessing lopsided losses.
A capacity crowd of 50,500 created an electric environment at Kenan Stadium for the season opener. The game attracted ESPN’s prime-time Labor Day slot. Fans began filing out in the third quarter while TCU stomped the Tar Heels.
In the Oct. 4 loss to Clemson, students were leaving at the end of the first quarter with UNC trailing 28-3.
Before the season, UNC chancellor Lee Roberts declared ‘we’ve hired the best coach.’
Or, North Carolina hired a coach past his pinnacle and out of his element.
Blake Toppmeyer is the USA TODAY Network’s senior national college football columnist. Email him at BToppmeyer@gannett.com and follow him on X @btoppmeyer.