On Monday, the New York Giants became the second NFL team to fire a head coach this season when they announced Brian Daboll would no longer be in charge.
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Unlike the Tennessee Titans, the Giants and University of North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick could have a mutual interest in teaming up for 2026. Belichick was an assistant coach for the Giants from 1980 to 1990. He won two Super Bowls as the defensive coordinator in New York under then-head coach Bill Parcells.
When speaking to reporters on Tuesday, Belichick didn’t deny interest in returning to coach the Giants in the NFL, saying he was focused on the Tar Heels upcoming game against Wake Forest on Saturday.
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“Getting ready for Wake Forest, that’s all I got this week,” Belichick said. “I’ve been asked about (an NFL return) from time to time. Look, I’ve been down this road before. I’m focused on Wake Forest, that’s it. That’s my commitment to this team. Next week it’ll be to our next opponent and so forth. I’m here to do the best I can for this team.”
Mike Florio of Pro Football Talk thinks there is a possibility Belichick would leave for the Giants. However, he’d have to sell a plan that doesn’t make general manager Joe Schoen uncomfortable. New York retained Schoen after firing Daboll.
“The challenge becomes getting G.M. Joe Schoen (who’s running the search) on board with the possibility of a Big Blue Belichick reunion,” Florio wrote. “Falcons owner Arthur Blank ultimately didn’t hire Belichick in 2024 after, it’s believed, an internal uprising sparked by concerns that Belichick would neutralize (if not eliminate) much of the front office.
“If Belichick has been sufficiently humbled by his post-Patriots NFL snubs to embrace being the coach and only the coach, could it work?”
Belichick, 73, could be desperate and humble enough to make the concessions necessary to return to the NFL. North Carolina has won its last two games, but Belichick is a disappointing 4-5 overall in his first season in Chapel Hill.
It seems unlikely that the Giants will hire Belichick. But the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach has every reason to want to return to the league and finish his career better than he did with the New England Patriots in the post-Tom Brady era.
Belichick’s 302 wins are third all-time in the NFL behind George Halas (318) and Don Shula (328). He’d have a chance to eclipse both in a few seasons if he had immediate success with the Giants.
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