Why would Bill Belichick make such a bold decision like this?
Through his now roughly nine months as UNC’s head football coach, Bill Belichick is proving his pull on recruits, both in the transfer portal and out of high school.
Before coming to Chapel Hill, though, Belichick spent roughly 50 years in the NFL, most notably from 2000-2023 as the New England Patriots’ head coach. Belichick has eight Super Bowl Titles in total, winning six of those in New England, plus 17 AFC East crowns.
Given the time he spent Up East, you may think Belichick still has a strong relationship with his longtime NFL organization. Think again.
On Thursday afternoon, former NFL scout John Middlekauff reported that Belichick banned Patriots staff from accessing North Carolina practices, which doesn’t appear to be a shocking decision.
The same ESPN article reports that in August, Tar Heels football GM Michael Lombardi and pro football liaison Frantzy Jourdain echoed the same sentiment.
In the offseason, Belichick and New England owner Robert Kraft disagreed about how Belichick took the New England job. Kraft claims he took a big risk by hiring Belichick, while UNC’s new head coach clarified he was the person who took a major risk.
Belichick previously started he wants to run North Carolina like an NFL program. Banning teams from accessing practices, particularly the one Belichick spent most of his professional football career coaching, doesn’t seem like the best way to go about professionalizing the Tar Heels.
If this is simply a focus move by Belichick, I understand the need for doing so. Belichick would much rather have his guys focus on winning games, as opposed to be distracted by coaches on a team they may never play for.
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