There has been plenty of noise surrounding the North Carolina football team during head coach Bill Belichick’s first season, and he made it clear Wednesday he is not a fan of some of the storylines that have circulated.
“I’m sure there’s a lot of other people that want to get clicks and views and posts on Myface or whatever, but it’s just a bunch of garbage,” he told reporters.
Belichick’s comments were in response to a question about whether he has noticed a shift in his team since he confirmed his commitment to the program earlier this month.
On Oct. 8, both the head coach and athletic director Bubba Cunningham released statements saying there was a commitment between Belichick and the school:
The statements came on the heels of a report from Ollie Connolly of the Guardian that said the former New England Patriots coach was discussing buyout options with North Carolina and had “signalled a willingness to trigger his own $1 million buyout if he can find a soft landing with another team or in media.”
The Tar Heels were fresh off a 38-10 blowout loss to Clemson at the time, which dropped their record to 2-3 overall. The three losses to TCU, UCF and Clemson came by a combined 87 points, while the wins came against overmatched opponents in Charlotte and Richmond.
While North Carolina is 0-2 since that official statement confirming Belichick’s commitment, it has looked much better in defeat. It lost 21-18 on the road against California and then 17-16 in overtime against a Virginia squad that is No. 15 in the Associated Press Top 25.
Were it not for a late fumble against the Golden Bears and a failed two-point conversion against the Cavaliers, North Carolina may have won both of those games.
Belichick, who is accustomed to winning after taking home six Lombardi Trophies as the head coach of the Patriots, surely isn’t pleased with a 2-5 record. But things seem to be trending in the right direction after the lackluster start that also included off-field headlines such as a report from Pat Welter of WRAL that said there was “a divided locker room, a disorganized coaching staff and a failure to communicate.”
Headlines about whether there would be a documentary also stood out, as did his confirmation the Patriots were banned from his team’s facilities.
Belichick dismissed some of what he saw as “garbage” stories Wednesday and will now look to help North Carolina turn its recent close losses into wins moving forward.