Why did Bill Belichick leave the Patriots? Explaining Robert Kraft rift that drove NFL legend to UNC

Why did Bill Belichick leave the Patriots? Explaining Robert Kraft rift that drove NFL legend to UNC originally appeared on The Sporting News

JUMP TO: 

• Bill Belichick vs. Robert Kraft feud
• When did Bill Belichick leave the Patriots?
• Bill Belichick record without Tom Brady
• Why did Bill Belichick go to UNC?
• Why did no NFL team hire Bill Belichick?

Bill Belichick won six Super Bowls as a head coach and two more as an assistant. He guided the glory era of the New England Patriots' franchise, coaching Tom Brady while building one of the NFL's most consistent units. He ranks third among all-time NFL victories for a head coach. So how, in 2024, did Belichick wind up leaving the NFL for College Football?

New England was a much different team in its post-Brady era, but under Belichick, the team always competed at the very least. But eventually, all good things must come to an end -- and in January 2024, Belichick and the Patriots announced they had "mutually agreed to part ways."

Behind-the-scenes reporting and other comments, though, suggested a rift between Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft, though. And even with his long track record of success, the legendary head coach couldn't find an NFL head coaching job in the following offseason cycle.

Why did Belichick leave New England? How did he wind up at UNC of all places, making a jump to college coaching? Here's what to know about the Belichick-Patriots timeline and why the head coach couldn't land a new NFL job.

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Why did Bill Belichick leave the Patriots?

The most straightforward answer to why Belichick and the Patriots parted ways is that they simply weren't a great team anymore after Tom Brady left in free agency, signing with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in 2020. 

With Brady under center, the Patriots didn't win fewer than 10 games in every season from 2003-2019. They were a machine, one of professional sports' all-time great dynasties, winning six Super Bowls with Belichick as head coach and Brady as quarterback. But after winning their sixth ring in 2018 with a win over the Los Angeles Rams, things started to change for New England.

In 2019, the Patriots weren't the same elite team they once were. New England did make the playoffs at 12-4, but then had its earliest playoff exit in a decade, losing to the Tennessee Titans in the Wild Card round. Brady didn't have a terrible season, but it was still one of the worst of his incredible career.

Never forget when the #Titans ended the Patriots historic dynasty in the 2019-2020 playoffs 🔥#TitanUppic.twitter.com/mJriT9kBOj

— SharmSports (@SharmSports) June 20, 2025

For various reasons, including Brady and Belichick seemingly wanting to prove they could succeed without one another, the legendary quarterback decided to leave the Patriots after the 2019 season, signing with Tampa Bay. The Patriots entered a new era, but still under Belichick.

At the end of the day, winning can cure a lot in the NFL. But New England did not win enough games over the next few years to keep Belichick around longer. From 2020-23, the Patriots made the playoffs once (2021, with a Wild Card exit), mostly relying on Belichick's defensive philosophies to win games and hover above .500. Mac Jones took over for Cam Newton as quarterback in 2021, but the young quarterback didn't prove to be the long-term answer.

The 2023 season was the worst of Belichick's career, and it led to his final days in New England. The Patriots went 4-13, their worst record since 1992, and Belichick had some of the worst blowout losses of his career. With the bad record, it was increasingly clear where things were heading, as the Patriots needed to commit to a rebuild for the first time in ages.

In January 2024, the team announced that it had "mutually agreed" to part ways with Belichick.

"I will always be a Patriot," Belichick said at the time. "I look forward to coming back here. But at this time, we're going to move on. I look forward and I am excited for the future."

"I’ll always be a Patriot. … At this time, we’re gonna move on and I look forward and I’m excited for the future.”

Bill Belichick on mutually agreeing to part ways with the Patriots. pic.twitter.com/qUywPBzAsc

— ESPN (@espn) January 11, 2024

While the Patriots' concerning record and lack of talent were the primary reasons for Belichick departing, there was reportedly more going on behind-the-scenes, including the coach and owner disagreeing on Belichick's longtime control over front office decisions.

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Bill Belichick vs. Robert Kraft feud

It's hard to argue any coach-owner duo has been as successful in NFL history than Bill Belichick and Robert Kraft. They built a dynasty together. Yet, especially in recent years, the two have reportedly been at odds, even taking shots at one another with comments.

One of the roots of the feud between Belichick and Kraft stems from Belichick essentially having full control over New England's football operations for over a decade. That included free agency signings, roster decisions, etc. -- it has become well-known that anything that happened with the Patriots was going through Belichick first, from play calls to roster cuts.

Especially when the Patriots were winning, that wasn't much of an issue for Kraft or the front office. A few scandals (SpyGate, DeflateGate) may have caused rifts, but as long as New England was in Super Bowl contention, there was no known issues between Belichick and Kraft.

When Brady left the team in 2020, things began to go downhill. Friction was at an all-time high as the Patriots were unwilling to commit to Brady long-term, while Kraft stuck by his head coach and the Belichick's way of doing things.

However, Belichick's decision-making simply was not good enough to keep New England afloat post-Brady. He didn't draft well, made some questionable coaching decisions and more, all leading to a 4-13 2023 season. As the Patriots struggled, Kraft reportedly wanted more collaboration between Belichick and the front office in building the team -- something the head coach had no interest in doing.

Kraft considered moving on from Belichick after the 2022 season, per ESPN, but his son Jonathan "talked him out of it."

However, by the end of the rough 2023 campaign, both sides reportedly knew where things were heading. Kraft wanted to "reassert control and emphasize better collaboration," according to ESPN. That meant Belichick had to go, as he always insisted for near-full control of football operations. The ESPN story said that after years of questionable decisions, a few scandals and other disagreements, Kraft had "found Bill to be extremely difficult and obstinate and kind of stubborn and, in the end, not worthy of his trust. And also very, very, very arrogant."

When Belichick was then in contention for the Atlanta Falcons' head coaching job in 2024, Kraft reportedly called Arthur Blank to "warn him not to trust Bill," per ESPN. A source also told ESPN that Belichick said Kraft "was a big part" of why the Falcons passed on hiring him. However, a spokesman for Kraft denied that he said anything negative about Belichick during the owners' conversations.

Additionally, when the initially Kraft-supported docuseries "The Dynasty" was released, it was notably anti-Belichick, with the owner saying Belichick "is a pain in the tush" while questioning some of Belichick's decisions over the years. Kraft later said he was "disappointed" that the docuseries highlighted so much negativity.

The rift has continued for years following Belichick's exit from New England. Kraft told former Patriots Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski on their "Dudes on Dudes" podcast that he had taken a “big risk” trading for Belichick in 2000. Belichick then responded, saying it was he who took the "big risk" with the job.

"As I told Robert multiple times through the years, I took a big risk by taking the New England Patriots head coaching job," Belichick told ESPN. "I already had an opportunity to be the Head Coach of the New York Jets, but the ownership situation was unstable.

"I had been warned by multiple previous Patriots' coaches, as well as other members of other NFL organizations and the media, that the New England job was going to come with many internal obstacles. I made it clear that we would have to change the way the team was managed to regain the previously attained success."

Other recent drama between Kraft and Belichick includes Belichick telling the Boston Globe that one of the biggest differences in coaching college is that there's "no owner, there’s no owner’s son," as well as UNC banning Patriots scouts from attending its practices in the 2025 season.

"It's clear I'm not welcome there at their facility. So they're not welcome at ours”

- Belichick when asked on banning Patriots scouts from UNC
pic.twitter.com/CuVonNIAHb

— Barstool Sports (@barstoolsports) September 7, 2025

The Kraft-Belichick feud is a complicated one, with years of shots toward one another but a shared winning history. Still, the Patriots owner said in 2025 that he is planning to have a Bill Belichick statue outside of Gillette Stadium someday, and they were also together at the Netflix "Tom Brady roast."

Robert Kraft and Bill Belichick cheers each other and take a shot. #TomBradyRoastpic.twitter.com/fjnbmfvxJA

— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) May 6, 2024

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When did Bill Belichick leave the Patriots?

Bill Belichick's 24-year stint as Patriots head coach ended on January 11, 2024. New England announced that it had "mutually agreed to part ways" with its coach following a 4-13 record in 2023, its worst in decades. Belichick had one year left on his contract at the time.

"This is a move that we mutually agreed that is needed at this time," Kraft said at the time, per ESPN. "What Bill accomplished, in my opinion, will never be duplicated."

Jarod Mayo, who had reportedly been tabbed as the successor to Belichick long before he was let go, was hired as the team's new head coach. However, Mayo lost that role after just one season, going 4-13 again in 2024.

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Bill Belichick record without Tom Brady

• 84-103 (.449)

One of -- if not the -- root cause of Belichick leaving the Patriots was the team's struggles after Tom Brady left for the Buccaneers in free agency. Not counting his time at UNC (only factoring his NFL record), Belichick went a total of 84-103 in games without Brady as his quarterback. That includes his time with the Cleveland Browns.

It also includes a 29-39 total record with the Patriots after Brady's departure in 2020.

Why did Bill Belichick go to UNC?

Belichick failed to find an NFL job after being let go by the Patriots. He interviewed with the Atlanta Falcons, even reportedly expecting to get the job, but the team instead went with Raheem Morris. Despite rumors connecting him to the Philadelphia Eagles, Dallas Cowboys and more, Belichick couldn't find a coaching job for some time, especially one that fit his desires.

While Belichick dabbled into the media business for some time during his absence from coaching, he surprisingly wound up taking his pedigree to North Carolina. 

Belichick had connections to the Tar Heels, who had let go of Mack Brown after the 2024 season. Per ESPN, by November 2024, Belichick was "reaching out to those in his football network, gathering any insight he could on the head coaching landscape around the country." He wanted to continue coaching, also wanting to have a similar autonomy that he had with the Patriots.

UNC gave him that opportunity. Belichick reportedly pitched a "400-page manifesto" about how he'd run the Tar Heels' program when he interviewed. According to ESPN, Belichick first expressed his interest in joining UNC through then-Senator Marco Rubio, who contacted Senator Thom Tillis of North Carolina.

After Mack's departure became official, UNC board members "viewed Belichick as something akin to Colorado's hiring of Deion Sanders -- a public relations and financial windfall that had the added benefit of improving the team on the field," according to ESPN. Reports began to publicly link Belichick and the Tar Heels, and on Dec. 5, 2024, he reportedly met with UNC officials in New York City.

Belichick acknowledged his talks with UNC on "The Pat McAfee Show" soon after, and eventually, he accepted a five-year, $50 million contract to join the Tar Heels.

AD Bubba Cunningham welcomed Bill Belichick to UNC by wearing a sleeveless sport coat for his press conference 🤣👏 pic.twitter.com/rrqUvrpx1a

— FOX College Football (@CFBONFOX) December 12, 2024

While it was unexpected, Belichick's union with UNC gave him an opportunity to coach again, something that the NFL hadn't offered him. Additionally, he got full control over coaching, roster decisions and more, not unlike his time with the Patriots. 

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Why did no NFL team hire Bill Belichick?

Surprisingly, the head coach with the most all-time Super Bowl wins didn't draw much interest on the open market after leaving New England. There's a few reasons for that, from Belichick's age at the time (73) to his very public reluctance to hand over control over football operations.

Hiring Belichick would likely mean restructuring the entire flow chart of an NFL front office, something teams were not willing to do. Seven teams had vacancies in the 2024 offseason. Just one showed real interest in him: the Falcons.

Even without vacancies, rumors did connect Belichick to the Eagles, Cowboys and more, with the potential of waiting out the 2024 season to see if one would hire him. However, an ESPN story detailed why teams passed on Belichick.

"You'll have to start over again," a source told ESPN of hiring Belichick. "Who would replace him? He hasn't had a good record of developing coaches. [Teams] were afraid that he'll have changed everything and every person, and [then] you'll be starting from scratch again. He didn't demand those changes, but they felt like, if we hire him, we have to give everything to him and trust how he does it."

A source from the Titans told ESPN that Belichick's "ability to build a culture at this stage is an issue," calling him too "stubborn" While Belichick wasn't entirely interested in every team with a vacancy, the ones he did have interest in did not reciprocate it. However, he did interview with Atlanta.

Per ESPN, Belichick met with Falcons owner Arthur Blank twice in January 2024. The coach reportedly came away from those conversations thinking he'd land the job. Instead, after Blank reportedly heard negative comments from Robert Kraft on Belichick, the Falcons went with Morris.

Belichick "believed" the Falcons' job was his to lose, per ESPN, but was "blindsided" by the team's decision to hire Morris.

Despite plenty of teams having 2024 vacancies, Belichick wound up without any of the jobs. His age, history of full-team control and big name worked against him, ultimately leading him to UNC.

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