Belichick turns a new leaf in the Carolina Pines
PHOTO: North Carolina coach Bill Belichick looks comfortable at the podium in Chapel Hill.
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By TOM SHANAHAN
CHAPEL HILL – North Carolina coach Bill Belichick stepped to the podium with the same emotionless face – bordering on a scowl – typical of his New England Patriots countenance that was so familiar to NFL fans watching TV interview clips.
But once North Carolina Bill entertains the first question, he leaves New England Bill behind in the clam chowder. New England Bill was terse. North Carolina Bill is approaching loquacious.
His monotone sounds familiar, but he offers expansive answers far beyond his Patriots tattooed “On to Cincinnati” refrain. He smiled at times, he looked his questioner attentively in the eye, and he nodded approvingly as he grasped the question.
This must be what North Carolina’s players mean when they say they’re enjoying Belichick personality running the program and there are no distractions caused by his Super Bowl celebrity or the scrutiny of his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordan Hudson.
On Wednesday, Belichick met with the media at the Kenan Football Center Hall of Honor for the second time since practice began four days ago. The Tar Heels open the season in a featured ESPN Monday night game, September 1, against TCU at Kenan Stadium.
Belichick offered opening comments as he explained “the acclimation period” of the first week without pads and added the challenging “evaluations of a lot of new faces.” North Carolina has 70 new players from the 2024 roster through recruits and the transfer portal.
He addressed eight questions in a session lasting 21 minutes, 28 seconds. He might have answered more questions, but the answers varied from a longest of 3:23 to most of them in the mid 2:30s. The shortest were a minute or so.
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— What’s in a name? North Carolina hopes plenty with the other Marcus Allen – Tom Shanahan Report
One question was about the difficulty of evaluating offensive and defensive linemen the first week of practice before they’re permitted to contact with full pads. He said evaluation is different than other positions without being able to observe contact.
“So much of interior offensive and defensive line play is on a pad level and leverage,” he said in a snippet of a longer answer. “Until you’re actually going at it, it’s hard to tell how it’s going to turn out. Once everything is on, then it’s a lot easier to see. …”
He continued, “That initial first step and first strike — pad level and contact, footwork — it’s a fine line between having the advantage and being in a position you’re trying to recover. That’s what we’re trying to do – gain the advantage and maintain it.”
He sounds like he’s at a clinic instructing coaches rather than speaking with ink-stained wretches.
Another was on his sons Steven and Brian following him into coaching. Steven is the defensive coordinator and Brian coaches the defensive backs. Bill explained he never pushed them into coaching, but they gravitated to it similar to him following his father, Steve, who was an assistant at North Carolina (1953-55) but spent most of his career as a Navy assistant (1956-89).
“I learned a lot from being around my dad,” Bill said. “A lot of it is osmosis. It’s not like instruction. You just live it. You hear things and you start to put it together. I’m sure some of that is true for them.”
Another question was about Belichick and general manager Michael Lombardi coming from the NFL and dealing with the new world of NIL and revenue sharing in college football. Belichick was quick to compare it to the new era of free agency in 1993 when he was the Cleveland Browns’ head coach. That’s not a common comparison heard since the advent of college players getting paid.
Belichick went on to discuss the separate and overlapping roles he and Lombardi handle.
“It’s certainly a partnership but at the same time we have the areas we focus more on.”
Another question was about leadership developing on a new roster. He went on to explain there are many forms of leadership.
“There’s on-field leadership and off-field. Some players are good leaders on the field in terms of being aggressive and decisive. Some are good off the field in terms of preparation, and some are good at both.”
He added, “It’s also, what are you talking about? There are leaders in the classroom, in film study, personal life – things like Bible study. There are different forms and they’re starting to unfold. We have a lot of players capable in that area. We’re seeing how it’s going to fit and come together. It hasn’t been defined yet.”
All and all, he provided writers with more quotes than they need and TV and radio with sound bites left on the cutting room floor due to time constraints.
North Carolina Bill, wearing a Carolina grey sweatshirt, finished his last answer and left the podium in a manner foreign to New England Bill:
“Good questions … great questions, interesting.”
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Tom Shanahan is an award-winning sportswriter and frequent contributor to Spartanmag.com in addition to posting on his website. His new book on Michigan State leading college football integration is, “THE RIGHT THING TO DO, The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s.” His first book was “RAYE OF LIGHT, Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the Integration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans.”
Below are links to click on to purchase my books focused.
My books tell the true story of college football integration in the 1960s and address the myths and fiction that allowed a false narrative surrounding the 1970 USC-Alabama game to usurp the credit from the true pioneers. As I said when I spoke at the National Sports Media Association book festival, no two books provide an accurate portrayal more than RAYE OF LIGHT and THE RIGHT THING TO DO.
I’ll put my facts up against anybody, anytime, anywhere. Watch here.
Click here for my story on the 1962 Rose Bowl and Segregation awarded first place by the Football Writers Association of America. I tell untold stories on Michigan State’s leading role and the true pioneers of college football integration. Click here to read the summary as a first-place story.
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Click here to purchase The Right Thing To Do
THE RIGHT THING TO DO
The True Pioneers of College Football Integration in the 1960s
Foreword by Ruffin McNeill
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Click here to purchase Raye of Light.
RAYE OF LIGHT
Jimmy Raye, Duffy Daugherty, the 1ntegration of College Football and the 1965-66 Michigan State Spartans
Foreword by Tony Dungy
DUFFY CHILDREN’S BOOK purchase links: Order from Barnes and Noble here and Amazon here.
