For all the uncertainty surrounding the future employment of the University of North Carolina’s football staff, the paperwork governing their departures is already in order.
A review of the employment contracts for UNC football staffers posted online by the university shows nearly all contain a termination-release exhibit signed on the same day as the underlying employment agreement. UNC tells Sportico this is not its standard practice and attributed it to a mistake by the football staff.
“Coaches have the option to sign the release in Exhibit A in the event of a termination for convenience,” Kevin Best, UNC’s senior director of communications, said. “Though coaches are generally instructed that Exhibit A is not supposed to be signed at the time of their hiring, it sometimes is inadvertently signed at that time.”
The practice appears to have been a recurring trend of the contracts executed by head coach Bill Belichick. Of the 13 agreements for football staffers that UNC has posted on its athletic department website, only one—that of Bobby Petrino—does not include a signed release dated the same day they executed their employment.
In the case of Belichick’s agreement, there are two identical signature pages—one following the main agreement and the other following Exhibit A, which contains the termination release—that are both signed and dated Jan. 22, 2025. The other coaches signed Exhibit A itself.
The significance of those releases has come into sharper focus following a series of coaching staff departures, including the recent resignations of football general manager Michael Lombardi and defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, Bill’s son. Lombardi reportedly agreed to leave without receiving the buyout money he was due for a firing without cause. Steve Belichick, who also faced an internal investigation over his conduct, agreed to resign effective Oct. 27, following the conclusion of his scheduled medical leave that commenced on Aug. 6.
Agents of college coaches who spoke to Sportico agreed that this was unusual and inadvisable, though, as a practical matter, it might not amount to much more than a harmless oversight.
Brian Stanchak, founder and president of The BDS Agency, said that in situations where his clients accidentally sign a termination release prematurely, “I immediately request that those pages be replaced with an unsigned version.”
Stanchak added: “In my negotiations, I always seek language that preserves the ability to negotiate the release at the time of termination. I even try to keep the coach’s name out of the sample release attached as an exhibit.”
Myles Solomon, head of coaches at agency MGC Sports, said he would not expect the chronology of the signatures to have a meaningful impact.
“Technically, signing the release too early could cost a coach their rights to challenge their termination on any sort of employment law grounds,” said Solomon, who also directs the sports law program at the University of Georgia School of Law. “However, practically, I have a hard time imagining any judge holding a coach to a release that is based on an inadvertent signature.”
UNC, 2-1, hosts No. 3 Notre Dame Saturday afternoon in Chapel Hill in a game that could prove pivotal for Bill Belichick’s regime following last season’s drama-filled disappointment.
