NFL.com Reports Tom Brady Reached Out to Bill Belichick About Coaching the Raiders

Adam Glanzman. Getty Images.

Of all the reports of all the coaches in all the football markets in the land, this one is the absolute best:

Source - Multiple NFL teams have inquired about whether legendary coach Bill Belichick would reconsider his move to college football -- including the Las Vegas Raiders, whose new minority owner Tom Brady spoke recently with his old coach about what it would take to make a reunion happen in Las Vegas, per sources. …

[S]ources say Brady believes the situation in Las Vegas requires a coach of Belichick's expertise and stature to establish a sustainable winning program.

Belichick's contract at North Carolina includes a $10 million buyout if he leaves prior to June 1, 2025, though it's not entirely clear whether it would apply if he returns to the NFL in the coming weeks. …

 

With few successful NFL head coaches currently available, at least one other team also has continued to check in on Belichick's status.

There are just so many layers to this possibility, it's hard to even know where to begin. For one, this would make heads explode all over the league. The lead analyst on one of the NFL's biggest broadcast partners is out actively recruiting a head coach because he was allowed to buy a piece of one of the team's his network covers? That's unheard of. Literally. Because it's a situation that has never been allowed to happen before. And is yet another example of the GOAT doing pioneering work in the field of professional football, two years after he took his last snap. 

Next, it would prove that Mark Davis is a shrewder operator than anyone gives him credit for. That underneath that Lloyd Christmas bowl cut:

Ethan Miller. Getty Images.

… lies the active brain of a man playing Mr. Spock chess. It seemed like lunacy for a man to give up even a small piece of his inherited, generational wealth just because he's star struck by Brady's celebrity. But what he got for that piece of the family fortune Al Davis created was the greatest recruiting tool of all time. For 25 years, Brady has been attracting dedicated, driven people who are obsessed with winning like moths to a bug zapper. And now his co-owner is using the siren song of his own excellence to try and draw in the only figure in NFL history with a record that can compare to his when it comes to success. 

But mostly, just from a Masshole's perspective, this would so much vindication I can barely put it into words. As I've said a million times, I've had to spend more of my time thinking about, getting asked about, and worrying about the relationship between Brady and Belichick than I have my own marriage. Everyone kept telling me they despised each other, and always would. Belichick was mean to him. He always ran him down in front of all his teammates and coaches. Gisele couldn't stand the stories about, "I can go to the high school and get Johnny Foxboro to make that throw." Belichick ran him out of town, forced him go to Tampa. And only there under care and love of Bruce Arians and Todd Bowles was he able to find true happiness. 

And I called bullshit on all of it. Of course they butted heads. In a 20 year collaboration who wouldn't? That's why guys never work together that long. Bands. Comedy teams. TV co-hosts. Business partners. It's unheard of. 

But look at what's happened since Brady retired (for good this time). They've podcasted together. Belichick roasted him and gave the speech at his Patriots Hall of Fame induction that put a manly Spartacus tear in every eye in the stadium. And the very first time Brady's team is looking for a head coach, the first man he reaches out to is the one who made him great. That tough teacher you had who drove you crazy, but the one you never forget because they got the very best out you had to give out of you. 

Please, universe, make this happen. Just the idea that now Brady is the boss and Belichick is working for him? That dynamic alone will be fascinating beyond belief. The apprentice has now become the Jedi Master. But most of all, to see if these two can touch their rings together, activate their Wonder Twins power, and bring their old magic back - albeit with a very different arrangement - will make 2025 special. Certainly well worth the $10 million that somebody's got to pay UNC. 

Advertisement

As far as the Tar Heels? Well, them's the breaks. Sometimes your reach exceeds your grasp. Then you get reminded that, while you can recruit some all time greats (Lawrence Taylor, Drake Maye), you're still not any coach's destination school. But that 10 mil will got a long way toward attracting top basketball talent, which is the ultimate goal anyway. 

PS. I'd be less than truthful if I didn't point out I also want this to happen so Brady doesn't hire Mike Vrabel away from the Patriots.

Until we know how this plays out, buy a shirt. While they're still available: