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David Hale
The Bill Belichick experiment at North Carolina is off to a disastrous start, but no one appears ready to pull the plug just yet.
Amid numerous reports that Belichick and North Carolina were engaged in negotiations to lower the coach’s buyout after a dismal start to his tenure in Chapel Hill, Belichick and the school released a joint statement Wednesday night countering those claims.
“I’m fully committed to UNC Football and the program we’re building here,” Belichick said in the statement.
Athletics director Bubba Cunningham added that Belichick had “the full support” of the UNC administration.
Belichick’s Tar Heels are off to a 2-3 start to the season, losing all three of their games vs. Power Four competition by a combined 120-33, including a loss to Clemson in the team’s ACC opener on Oct. 4 in which UNC allowed touchdowns on two of the Tigers’ first four plays and trailed 28-3 after the first quarter.
Since the first mention of Belichick as a candidate for the UNC job, there have been ample controversies, from Board of Trustees members reportedly making an unauthorized offer to the former Patriots coach behind the athletics director’s back to an offseason of tabloid speculation about Belichick’s 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson.
But the past week has been perhaps the most chaotic, from a letter sent by general manager Michael Lombardi to donors calling Carolina’s season part of a “rebuild,” to players pushing back against that notion after the Clemson loss, to the scrapping of a planned documentary on the season, to reports that Belichick had forbidden UNC’s social team from drawing attention to the strong play of former Tar Heels QB Drake Maye because he didn’t want to promote his former employer, the New England Patriots.
Earlier this week, WRAL also reported widespread discontent in the locker room, and The Athletic reported that cornerbacks coach Armond Hawkins was being suspended for recruiting violations.
All of that preceded reports Wednesday that Belichick might be on his way out by the end of the week, and the two sides were discussing amendable terms to buy out the remainder of his contract — a five-year deal for which the first three years are guaranteed at $10 million each.
Belichick said after the Clemson game that he continues to talk with recruits and sell them on the future of the program. He also declined to suggest serious changes were necessary for the current team to right the ship.
“The main thing we need to do is to keep doing what we’re doing but do them better,” Belichick said. “Fundamentally, we’re not doing the wrong things, we’re just not doing them well enough.”
The Tar Heels are set to travel to Cal for their first road ACC game on Oct. 17.
