Bill Belichick UNC contract: Salary details, incentives and NIL allocations of new head coach explored

Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick is taking up the head coach role for the North Carolina Tar Heels. He missed out on getting hired for the 2024 season, despite teams like the Atlanta Falcons interviewing him only to not follow back. This comes after the Patriots parted ways with their six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach in Jan. 2023.

Belichick, who boasts four decades of experience in coaching, will surprisingly taste college football waters for the first time. The offer put forth by UNC must be great for the coach to take up the reins of the ACC program. Let's take a look.

Bill Belichick's contract with USC

According to a term sheet the university released Thursday afternoon, Bill Belichick signed a five-year, $50 million contract with the University of North Carolina. However, only the first three years' salary ($10 million annual salary) is guaranteed, which means in case UNC fires the coach without cause, they'll at least need to buy out his contract by paying him $30 million.

Out of the $10 million annual salary, $1 million is basic and the rest will be in the form of supplemental income.

According to USA Today, the salary offered to Belichick is almost double that of previous coach Mack Brown. Moreover, as per the website's annual salary database, Belichick is now the sixth-highest-paid college football coach for the 2025 season.

Only Georgia’s Kirby Smart, Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, Texas' Steve Sarkisian, Florida State's Mike Norvell and Alabama's Kalen DeBoer have better pay than Belichick.

Bill Belichick's deal carries NIL allocation

According to Matt Haynes, the Tar Heels program will increase NIL resources from $4 million to $20 million, to give Belichick all the resources to recruit top players in the country and lead the college to glory.

Bill Belichick's contract bonus details

UNC has added several incentives and bonuses for every milestone Bill Belichick achieves with the program. The bonuses, which total up to $3.5 million per year, are distributed as follows:

Regular Season Bonuses (whichever is greater):

• Win 8 games: $150,000
• Win 9 games: $200,000
• Win 10 games: $250,000
• Win 11 games: $300,000
• Win 12 games: $350,000

Conference Championship Game (whichever is greater):

• Appearance: $200,000
• Win: $300,000

Post-Season Bonuses (whichever is greater):

• Non-CFP/any bowl appearance: $150,000
• Non-CFP Tier I/Elite bowl appearance: $350,000
• CFP participant: $750,000
• CFP quarterfinal appearance: $1,000,000
• CFP semifinal appearance: $1,250,000
• CFP championship game appearance: $1,500,000
• CFP national champion: $1,750,000

Final CFP Poll Bonuses (whichever is greater):

• Top 25: $250,000
• Top 20: $300,000
• Top 15: $375,000
• Top 10: $425,000
• Top 5: $500,000