Bill Belichick’s first game as North Carolina’s head coach was supposed to mark the beginning of a bold new era. Instead, it was a harsh welcome to college football. The Tar Heels were blown out 48-14 by TCU in Week 1, a loss that exposed just how far the program has to go.
Something perhaps more alarming about Belichick's first game is his reported banning of New England Patriots scouts from attending UNC practices. The move, first reported by John Middlekauff, adds fuel to the lingering tension between Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft.
Scouts around the NFL have already faced challenges accessing UNC practices under Belichick’s tenure, according to Ari Meirov. But barring his former team carries extra meaning. It reads as a not-so-subtle message to Kraft, the man who ended Belichick’s legendary run in New England after three straight losing seasons.
The problem is that UNC’s players are caught in the middle. NFL hopefuls rely on exposure, and shutting out scouts from one of the league’s 32 teams — especially a high-profile one like the Patriots — creates unnecessary obstacles. For a program already searching for an identity after an ugly opener, that’s the last thing it needs.
"This is the latest petty move by Bill Belichick — and in the big picture it only hurts his players and future recruits," Meirov wrote.
Belichick has always been known for prioritizing control above all else, even at the expense of relationships and, at times, results. It’s the same approach that won him six Super Bowls but also drove wedges in New England during his final years. Now, in Chapel Hill, it risks overshadowing his rebuild before it even begins.
If Week 1’s blowout loss to TCU wasn’t enough of a wake-up call, Belichick’s decision to shut out the Patriots shows that his experiment at UNC may be less about adapting to college football and more about proving a point.