Bill Belichick says focus on North Carolina’s next game, not Giants opening

North Carolina coach Bill Belichick is looking west to the next game against Wake Forest and not well north at the vacant job with the New York Giants, he said on Tuesday.

The former longtime NFL coach, with six Super Bowl championships with the New England Patriots, has a coaching history with the Giants, who fired Brian Daboll on Monday.

Belichick, 73, is in his first season as a college coach with the Tar Heels, who play Saturday against the Demon Deacons in Winston-Salem, N.C. North Carolina is 4-5, 2-3 in the Atlantic Coast Conference after two consecutive victories over Syracuse and Stanford.

"Getting ready for Wake Forest, that's all I got this week," Belichick said at his Tuesday press conference in Chapel Hill, N.C.

While speculation has come from outside the program, Belichick was asked if players and recruits have brought up his possible return to the NFL and New York.

"I've been asked about it from time to time," Belichick said. "Look, I've been down this road before. I'm focused on Wake Forest, that's it. That's my commitment to this team. This week it's Wake Forest, next week it's that opponent and so forth. I'm here to do the best for this team."

Sportsbooks have Belichick with longer odds than Ole Miss head coach Lane Kiffin, a former NFL head coach who coached Giants rookie quarterback Jaxson Dart last season in Oxford, Miss. Kiffin, who coached the Raiders from 2007-08, also has been suggested for various prominent openings at the college level.

Belichick might have motivation to return to the NFL to add to his legacy. Only Don Shula (328-156-6) and George Halas (318-148-31) have more regular-season wins in NFL history than Belichick, who was 302-165 in 29 seasons with the Cleveland Browns (1991-95) and Patriots (2000-2023). He has the most career playoff wins (31-13 record) in collecting Super Bowl titles with the Patriots in 2001, 2003, 2004, 2014, 2016 and 2018.

He was a defensive assistant and special teams coach with the Giants in 1979-84 before taking over as defensive coordinator from 1985-90 -- winning Super Bowls in the 1986 and 1990 seasons under head coach Bill Parcells. Belichick also was assistant head coach/defensive coordinator of the New York Jets from 1997-99.