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CHARLOTTE – Bill Belichick won over a lot of media.
Yes, the Hoodie did show up in most places he was expected Thursday on the last of the ACC football media days. Although it was cut short in Belichickian fashion, he held a special almost-private press conference for Triangle media at 9 a.m.
He wound up impressing many people who had never paid much attention to him beyond his reputation as a great coach with a dour manner. He ghosted the 100 interviewers on radio row, but guess he had to make someone mad.
As the next-to-last to take the podium in the big ballroom, he hand-slapped the players who took turns speaking and was gracious to a fault. In a word, he seemed human.
In the breakout interview room, so many cameras and microphones huddled around the Hoodie’s table, newly hired PR director Brandon Faber controlled who was asking questions. Faber worked with multiple sports teams in Chicago, the latest for the Bears, and looks like a non-nonsense guy that, frankly, UNC needs with all the distractions around Belichick.
“I’m excited to get the season started,” Belichick said at the morning mini-session. “We’ve got four great representatives of our program here. We’re excited to come over with these guys.”
He referred to returning defensive back Will Hardy, sophomore wide receiver Jordan Shipp and transfers DB Thad Dixon (from Washington) and quarterback Gio Lopez (from South Alabama).
“Our team’s ready to start practice,” added Belichick. “We’ve obviously got a long way to go with 70 new players, 40 transfers and 30 freshmen. We have a lot of new faces, but I love the way our program’s coming together, coaching staff, recruiting, support staff, alumni, we’ve done double digit donor-type events and those people have all been fantastic.”
Whether he’s worth $10 million a year remains to be seen, but he is clearly a different breed from the aloof Larry Fedora and salesman Mack Brown.
Belichick has built a tough and attention-to-detail staff, retaining only offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens and running backs coach Natrone Means, both in lesser roles last season but worthy apparently of promotions under the new regime.
There is no question who drew most of the attention in uptown Charlotte, and while Clemson’s Dabo Swinney remains the face of ACC football, Belichick is the third former NFL head coach now leading teams in the conference. Stanford’s Frank Reich (Colts) and BC’s Bill O’Brien (Texans), who like Belichick were fired and now are coaching college football that looks more like the pro game every day.
The final head coach to speak, N.C. State’s Dave Doeren addressed a half-filled ballroom after it had been packed for his next arch rival in Chapel Hill. That may give him another reason to remind one and all he has beaten the hated Heels seven of the last nine times heading into his first head-to-head with the Hoodie on November 29 in Raleigh.
Featured image via Associated Press/Aaron Beard
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
