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Bill Belichick may be the University of North Carolina head football coach, but there was almost a plan to get him back in the NFL thanks to a colleague with whom he has close ties.
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton and Bill Belichick go back years. Both served on Bill Parcells’ staff, albeit at different times, before crossing paths as NFL head coaches.
In a detailed story about Payton and the Broncos’ playoff appearances last season, which ended in an AFC Championship Game loss to Belichick’s old New England Patriots, ESPN reported that Payton had the idea to go to Broncos owner Greg Penner with a plan to hire Belichick as the team’s interim head coach until he reached 15 wins.
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North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick on the sideline during the first quarter at Kenan Stadium on Sept. 1, 2025. (Bob Donnan/Imagn Images)
The exact win total would have caused Belichick to pass the great Don Shula for the all-time record for coaching wins.
The report indicated that Payton would still have been on the staff as an assistant head coach, and once Belichick clinched the win, Payton would return as head coach.
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In the end, Payton didn’t officially make the offer to Penner, deciding it would have been too complicated and Belichick would have had to agree on his end as well.
There hasn’t been anything like it in football, but it raises the question again of Belichick’s history in the league, which has been a hot topic since he and the Patriots parted ways.
Belichick’s impact on football is unparalleled, though it became unclear during the most recent Pro Football Hall of Fame voting as he found himself at the center of controversy.
Denver Broncos head coach Sean Payton reacts during the first half against the Miami Dolphins at Hard Rock Stadium on September 24, 2023 in Miami Gardens, Florida. (Megan Briggs/Getty Images)
Belichick wasn’t a first-ballot Hall of Famer, and the likes of Tom Brady and others were baffled by the fact that the coach with the second-most wins in history didn’t already get his bust to the halls of Canton, Ohio. But some voters considered the controversy that swirled around Belichick during his time in Foxborough, which included Spygate, and thought he was not yet worthy of the honor.
Since leaving the NFL, many have wondered if Belichick would ever match Shula’s win total. That question remained even after he took North Carolina’s vacant job, his first as a college head coach.
And that still hangs over Belichick’s legacy, especially after his firm stance that he will see out his role with the Tar Heels in his second season despite murmurs that he would entertain NFL head coaching positions after the 2025 season.
North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick greets a recruit on the sideline before an NCAA college football game against Stanford, Saturday, Nov. 8, 2025, in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
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Right now, Belichick is content leading the way in Chapel Hill, while Payton aims to get the Broncos back to the Super Bowl in 2026.
