Bill Belichick reportedly has banned Patriots scouts from attending North Carolina Tar Heels football practices.
“It’s embarrassing,” Patriots insider Phil Perry said on Early Edition on Thursday night.
Former NFL scout John Middlekauff was the first to report New England’s scouts were banned from practices. Multiple reports have since confirmed the development. Someone in the Tar Heels athletic department told the Boston Herald it was due to how Belichick has been treated by the organization since his departure while The Boston Globe reported it was due to his ongoing feud with owner Robert Kraft.
Perry expanded on his take, adding how Belichick treating NFL scouts poorly ultimately will make his North Carolina program less desirable for recruits.
“You look at not only keeping the Patriots scouts out, that’s one strike, but I look at some of the reporting before the game on Monday night,” Perry said. “Scouts are supposed to get — or typically get, they’re not required to — but they typically get a depth chart two deep so the scouts know who to keep an eye on. And he (Belichick) gave them nothing.
“If you treat NFL teams that way, that’s not going to help you in the long run,” Perry said. “These players have more power than ever before — never mind the ones who he’s trying to recruit. The ones who are there aren’t going to appreciate that and they will be gone if this continues.”
The reporting comes at the same time Sports Illustrated’s Albert Breer pulled back to curtain on Belichick’s offseason recruitment. Belichick, Breer revealed, watched a standout player transfer after Belichick offered the college athlete an “incentive-laden deal.”
It marked the last blemish for Belichick and the Tar Heels, who suffered a blowout loss in their season opener against TCU.