In the wake of the Giants (2-8) firing Brian Daboll on Monday after yet another devastating loss, momentum among fans began to build for Bill Belichick to return to the Meadowlands as head coach of the franchise where he made his mark as a two-time Super Bowl champion at defensive coordinator (1986 and 1990).
Despite his tenure ending in disastrous fashion in New England, going 29-38 in his final four seasons after Tom Brady departed for Tampa Bay, the idea of Belichick coming in and working with a talented Giants front seven while also setting a culture of winning for an offense with so many exciting young weapons was enough to have fans ignore his failures at the end with the Patriots (9-2).
Whether or not Belichick was actually ever going to be a serious head coaching candidate for the Giants job or not, the noise around it was enough for the head football coach at North Carolina (4-5, 2-3) to release a statement on his Instagram:
“I have great respect and genuinely care for the New York Giants organization and both the Mara and Tisch families. The New York Giants played an important role in my life and in my coaching journey. It was a privilege for me to work for the Mara family and be a member of Coach Parcells' staff for over a decade. However, despite circulating rumors, I have not and will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies.
“Since arriving in Chapel Hill, my commitment to the UNC Football program has not waivered (sp). We have tremendous support from the university, our alumni, and the entire Carolina community.
“My focus remains solely on continuing to improve this team, develop our players, and build a program that makes Tar Heel fans proud.
“We're on to Wake Forest.”
That last part, of course, an homage to his famous “We’re on to Cincinnati” press conference after being blown out by a pre-Patrick Mahomes Chiefs in the early part of the 2014 season. His team was sitting at 2-2 through four games, and many in the media were questioning whether or not both he and Brady were long for their jobs any longer at 1 Patriot Place.
They proceeded to win 10 of their next 12, going on to win one of the most memorable Super Bowls in NFL history of the Seahawks in Super Bowl XLIX. That was the first of four Super Bowl appearances post-Cincy rant, winning three of them.
Was this statement his “We’re on to Cincinnati” moment for the boys down at Chapel Hill?
After a rocky start to his first year with UNC, Belichick’s Tar Heels have won consecutive ACC games heading into the final three contests of their regular season. With four wins in-hand, North Carolina needs to win two of their next three to become bowl eligible:
- Week 12 @ Wake Forest (6-3, 3-3)
- Week 13 vs. Duke (5-4, 4-1)
- Week 14 @ NC State (5-4, 2-3)
With the NFL in his rearview, so he says, Chapel Bill has three games left to try and get his program back to at least the level it was at when he inherited it from Mack Brown - a middling, bowl eligible team who inevitably lost to UConn in the 2024 Fenway Bowl.
His Tar Heels are 6.5-point underdogs on Saturday against the Demon Deacons, sitting at +188 on the moneyline.