Michigan State QB Aidan Chiles on bouncing back after 38-27 loss to Nebraska
Aidan Chiles: “Overall, I’ve got to be better. … We’ve got to be better.”
Of all the ugly moments so far – bad play, blowout losses, home fans fleeing early for the exits – the most telling moment of Bill Belichick’s first season at North Carolina came during an open week.
It took the form of a pair of terse statements from Belichick and athletic director Bubba Cunningham posted on social media late Wednesday, reaffirming the marriage between the six-time Super Bowl winner from the NFL’s New England Patriots and the school desperately seeking to elevate its football program beyond decades of also-ran status.
“I’m fully committed to UNC Football and the program we’re building here,” Belichick said.
The fact it came at all, though – following a day of speculation and reports of behind-the-scenes troubles in the program – said more about how the first few weeks of Belichick’s first college season have gone.
The confident messaging about building the “33rd” NFL team with a pro-style approach at a college program has given way to school leaders and the Tar Heels’ general manager pleading for patience from fans and donors jarred by the team’s lack of competitiveness. And now the school has suspended an assistant coach for violating rules tied to improper benefits.
It all comes amid elevated financial investments into the program, none more significant than spending at least $10 million annually to hire the 73-year-old Belichick as a first-time college coach.
“It’s not the kind of thing we judge after four games or even after one season,” Chancellor Lee Roberts told reporters after a meeting of university trustees two weeks ago. “These things take time.”
On the field
The Tar Heels (2-3) have managed a total of four touchdowns in three losses to power-conference opponents, each coming by at least 25 points. One of their two wins came against a Championship Subdivision opponent in Richmond.
In games against fellow Bowl Subdivision opponents, UNC ranks last among all 67 power-conference teams in scoring offense (13.3), total offense (253.0 yards) and third-down conversion rate (26.5%). The Tar Heels also rank amid the bottom dozen in scoring defense (30.8), total defense (416.8 yards) and third-down conversion defense (43.4%), according to Sportradar.
UNC opened Belichick’s tenure on Labor Day with a national TV spotlight, only to see TCU roll to a 48-14 win that had UNC fans largely gone from Kenan Stadium by the end of the third quarter.
Last week, it happened again, this time by halftime, as Clemson took a 28-3 lead in the first quarter of a game that ended in a largely empty Kenan Stadium.
“We’re just going to keep working every day and every week,” Belichick said afterward. “And let the guys get better. And the guys that get better will keep playing. And the guys that don’t, maybe there’s other people that can compete and move ahead of them for playing time. But we’re just going to keep grinding. I’m not going to evaluate where things are or aren’t. Just take it week by week.”
The Tar Heels next visit California on Oct. 17 in their first cross-country league trip since the Atlantic Coast Conference’s expansion last year.
Off the field
The school has also dealing with issues away from the games.
The school announced Thursday evening that cornerbacks coach Armond Hawkins has been suspended. A timetable for that suspension is unclear, and UNC said in its statement that Hawkins would remain on leave while the school “further investigates other potential actions detrimental” to the team and school.
Additionally, a person with knowledge of the situation said a planned TV show from streaming service Hulu on Belichick’s first UNC team is no longer in development. The person spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity Thursday because UNC hasn’t publicly discussed the project.
The football program had posted social media video in August of Belichick telling the players that the Tar Heels would be featured in what he described as a season-long show to “showcase” the program. The person told the AP it was unclear whether the project might go forward in any other manner.
Belichick’s relationship with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson has generated its own tabloid-level interest. She has been a frequent sideline presence before games.
It’s all generated endless fodder for opponents to deliver easy jabs after romps against Belichick’s Tar Heels.
That much showed on opening night, both with the Big 12’s official football account posting on X to mark “a 34-point win over the 33rd Team” while TCU’s official football account posted Belichick’s Hulu announcement asking simply: “when does episode one come out?”
And then there was the 34-9 loss at UCF, with the Knights’ official program account posting a trolling photo with its mascot replicating a much-discussed beach shot of Belichick and Hudson that she had previously posted on Instagram – complete with the same hashtag.
The future
General manager Michael Lombardi, a former NFL executive, recently sent a letter to donors encouraging them to remain patient. He outlined a plan that included signing “upwards of 40” high school players in next year’s class to restock the program, indicating the need for a longer-term building effort.
“First and foremost, this letter isn’t an excuse or to shed blame on the past regimes,” Lombardi wrote in the letter, first reported by Football Scoop and later obtained by the AP. “It’s meant to explain our team building blueprint moving forward, now that we have surveyed the inherited land.”
Changing course would be expensive, too.
Belichick is in the first year of a deal that guarantees $10 million in base and supplemental pay for each of the next two seasons. Lombardi is making $1.5 million for each of the next two seasons. And most of the staff – which includes Belichick’s sons Steve and Brian, as well as Lombardi’s son Matt – holds two-year deals.
It would cost more than $30 million to buy out those staff contracts if UNC opted to make a coaching change.
No. 7 Indiana visits No. 3 Ducks
It’s back to work after a bit of time off for Oregon and Indiana.
The No. 3 Ducks (5-0, 2-0 Big Ten) host the No. 7 Hoosiers (5-0, 2-0) on Saturday with both teams coming off byes.
The break couldn’t have come at a more opportune time for the two unbeatens as they prepare for a game that could have Big Ten title and College Football Playoff implications.
Though Indiana coach Curt Cignetti isn’t treating it that way.
“I say it all the time: you prepare for them all the same. Otherwise you’d be doing a disservice to your team if you’re all in one game and not all in on another. From that standpoint, it’s pretty much the same,” said Cignetti, who led the Hoosiers to the CFP last season in his first year with the team.
While the approach may be the same, the game Saturday could turn out to be the biggest challenge each team will face over the second half of the season. The Ducks, who beat Ohio State during the regular season last year, don’t have the Buckeyes on the schedule this year. Neither do the Hoosiers.
Many considered Oregon’s last opponent, Penn State, to be its bellwether for the season. The Ducks beat the Nittany Lions 30-24 in double overtime on the road in the annual White Out game.
Indiana, which routed No. 17 Illinois 63-10 earlier in the season, faces Penn State on Nov. 8 but the Nittany Lions have fallen out of the AP Top 25 after back-to-back-losses to Oregon and last weekend at UCLA.
Of course, there are no guarantees that the winner on Saturday will still be in the mix at the top of the conference at season’s end. The Ducks hope to just keep the ball rolling, much like last season when they were undefeated and won the Big Ten title game.
“Ultimately, love the position that we’re in but only love it if we keep watering the plant and keep growing and keep getting better,” Oregon coach Dan Lanning said.
Quality QBs
Indiana quarterback Fernando Mendoza has thrown for 1,208 yards with 16 TDs and just one interception. On the other side is Dante Moore, who has thrown for 1,210 yards and 14 touchdowns with one interception.
Lanning was asked what Moore needs to do to outduel Mendoza, and the coach stated the obvious.
“He’ll never be on the field at the same time as Mendoza and Mendoza will never be on the field at the same time as him. All he has to do is go out there and play his game and the rest will take care of itself,” Lanning said. “He’s competing to be the best version of himself. He’s not competing against him.”
Ponds returns
Indiana cornerback D’Angelo Ponds is expected to return after missing the Iowa game with a lower body injury. Ponds has 11 tackles, including 10 solo, and an interception. He also blocked a punt and returned it for a touchdown against Illinois.
Fab frosh
Normally, Oregon freshmen don’t speak to the media, but receiver Dakorien Moore addressed reporters this week ahead of the game. A five-star recruit, Moore was expected to make an immediate impact and he has, with 19 catches for 296 yards and two touchdowns and three carries for 42 yards and one TD. He’s made some notable blocks and returned several punts.
“This is not about me. This is about the team,” he said. “This is about the people who got me here. This is about the support and the fans and the people who’ve always been around here. It’s bigger than me.”
Poll movement
Both Oregon and Indiana moved in the AP Top 25 without playing a game during the bye week. The Ducks had jumped to No. 2 after beating Penn State, but dropped down to No. 3 – supplanted by Miami – in the latest poll.
Indiana moved up a spot from No. 8 in the rankings, where they sat after a 20-15 road win at Iowa.
It’s the second straight season that Autzen Stadium will feature a Top-10 matchup. Last year, the No. 3 Ducks downed visiting No. 1 Ohio State.
Michael Irvin is most famous cheerleader
Coral Gables, Fla. – Michael Irvin is soaked in sweat on the Miami sideline. He’s high-fiving players and coaches. He’s chest-bumping anyone in his general vicinity. He’s celebrating touchdowns, big plays, big hits, then waves to the Hurricane fans and tells them to get louder.
This wasn’t a scene from 1987.
This all happened last weekend. And every other Hurricanes game day this season, too.
The 59-year-old Irvin – a national champion with the Hurricanes, a Super Bowl champion with the Dallas Cowboys and a Pro Football Hall of Famer – doesn’t need a seat at Miami games. He’s not sitting. He’s perhaps the most famous cheerleader in college football right now, in almost constant motion on the sidelines, reveling in the success of the second-ranked Hurricanes and their 5-0 start.
Irvin says he’s been doing this for one reason: If Hurricane alums are asking players to be fully committed, then those alums have to show how committed they are as well.
“For years – for years – we’ve come back to Miami and all season we talk to the young men about how important it is to give your all, like we gave our all, to the university,” Irvin said. “We talk about the great brotherhood. These young men today, they hear talk all the time. They hear everybody talking. You have to put substance behind the words to get any meaning towards these kids and who they are and what they are.”
Irvin proudly says he’s never changed teams. He went to the national football power St. Thomas Aquinas High School in Fort Lauderdale, then attended Miami, then spent the entirety of his NFL career with the Cowboys. “And I won a championship on every level,” Irvin quickly points out.
He has ties with Miami coach Mario Cristobal that go back longer than perhaps anyone else associated with the university. Irvin was one of the hosts of Cristobal’s recruiting visit nearly 40 years ago. When Cristobal came back to Miami to take over as head coach, Irvin was one of the alums who loudly expressed how good a choice that was.
Cristobal called Irvin to invite him to games. And Irvin has always answered those calls.
“I think the best part of the way Mike brings his energy is the fact that he makes it very clear he’s very grateful for the University of Miami and for his time as a Miami Hurricane,” Cristobal said. “And I think that’s a feeling that needs to be expressed by any and all of us that ever played here – because a lot of us came in here not knowing our head from our feet.”
This is not a new commitment from Irvin. He’s a ‘Cane for life. He was at Madison Square Garden and went viral for his cheering from the stands when Miami’s basketball team played Stanford for the NIT title in 2015. He’s been more visible on the football sideline in recent seasons, getting tons of attention for getting on his hands and knees during Miami’s wild 25-point comeback to beat Cal 39-38 last year.
This year, he’s done it all while wearing a “Greentree Made Me” shirt, a nod to the name of Miami’s practice field.
“Coach called me this off-season and his message for when I spoke to the team was that we’ve got to talk about the work. Talk about work,” Irvin said. “That’s got to be the message. I love seeing (freshman wide receiver) Malachi Toney talk about, ‘It’s about the work.’ In this day and age, you can create a dynasty if you’ve got this new talent understanding those old ways. What our coaches are creating is an anomaly. In a time where everybody’s trying to work less. We’ve got a group of kids who are willing to work more.”
It’s not just Irvin who has gotten behind this Miami team. Edgerrin James has been at games. Devin Hester, too. Santana Moss texted Cristobal after Miami’s win over Florida State. Dan Morgan and Greg Olsen reach out as well.
Practices always have a former player or two (or more) around. Former Miami coach Jimmy Johnson has been around the team. Ed Orgeron, who coached at Miami, is always nearby. The excitement among those who have been part of Miami’s five title runs is obvious.
“That’s why I came to Miami as a player. That’s why a lot of my teammates, our teammates, came here to Miami,” Cristobal said. “And that’s why a lot of guys have come back. And we need to keep doing that. And we just need to make it almost like a token of gratitude. It is our role to do that and mentor the guys that have followed us, which is this current team right now, and help them get to the future.”
Irvin particularly enjoyed last weekend’s win at Florida State. It took him back to 1987, when he scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to lift Miami to a 26-25 win over the Seminoles on that same Doak Campbell Stadium field. That win helped Miami win the national title.
He got run over on the sideline during that game, a collision where a pair of Miami defenders kept driving a Florida State runner backward after the play was over. Hurricanes linebacker Wesley Bissainthe got called for a personal foul on the play, and Irvin – along with ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe – ended up on the ground.
Both were all smiles afterward.
“I do all this for our coach,” Irvin said. “Mario Cristobal sacrificed for this and we all have to follow him. We will follow him right to heaven, to that championship. He’s the one to get us there.”
FSU’s Pritchard is ‘alert, responsive’
Tallahassee, Fla. – Florida State freshman linebacker Ethan Pritchard is “alert, responsive and able to communicate” after being shot in the back of the head following the team’s season opener in August.
Pritchard was released from Tallahassee Memorial Hospital on Thursday and moved to Brooks Rehabilitation in Jacksonville for the next stage in his recovery.
“We are thankful for the efforts, thoughts and prayers of so many people and ask that you continue to support Ethan and his family as this process continues,” the school said.
Four people were arrested in connection to the shooting. Florida Department of Law Enforcement Commissioner Mark Glass said last month that Pritchard was “not doing anything wrong” when he was ambushed outside an apartment complex. He added that Pritchard was dropping off an aunt and a child at the time of the shooting.
Gadsden County Sheriff Morris Young said the shooting was a case of mistaken identity.
“I am so thankful for everyone who has prayed for my son,” Earl Pritchard said in a statement. “There have been a lot of ups and downs over these last 39 days, and it is remarkable that Ethan and I were able to leave the hospital together today.”
Pritchard also thanked FSU coach Mike Norvell for being “a constant presence visiting us here at the hospital.”
“His players and staff have continued to make us feel part of the team,” Pritchard added. “I can’t fully express how much those moments have meant to me and Ethan.”
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