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Belichick says academics for football is under control.
After four decades in the NFL, the new leaders of Carolina football are not worried about having little, if any, experience with football players having to go to class and maintain their eligibility and headway toward graduation.
Mack Brown loved to talk about how well his players were doing in the classroom, climbing toward the top of the ACC and the nation in APR, academic progress rate. And that may be helping Belichick and general manager Mike Lombardi with something of which they know little.
“Well, certainly we have people on our staff that connect academics to athletics and to football, that comes in a number of forums,” Belichick said when asked the question at the ACC Kickoff in Charlotte last week.
“We have players coming in who we advise on the academics they need to take in their senior year in college or in high school that will help them make the transition. We have transfers who are transferring credits, and then we have the daily classes and things like that. I’m updated on that every single day.”
Belichick says he and Lombardi “get a report on each player, if they’ve missed a class or haven’t turned in an assignment. We find out what the story is on that.”
Belichick has to say something about the side of football he never had to worry about in the NFL. He said of the 70 new players on his UNC roster, 40 are transfers and 30 are freshmen. Sure, there is a capable academic staff from study halls in the Loudermilk Center to tutors if the players need them or want them.
But, in Charlotte, there was a lot of talk about “one-semester players” who may not play well enough, or at all, to earn a second season at Carolina and, thus, will be in the transfer portal as soon as it opens after the season. Some of them may never go to class because at UNC, like most schools, it takes two semesters to lose academic eligibility.
Belichick earned his fame by winning six Super Bowls with the Patriots, but at his alma mater Wesleyan he is thought of as an academic as much as an athlete who played football, lacrosse and squash in college as an honor student.
Those who stay in school for more than one year will have great guidance, according to the Hoodie. “We’re very fortunate to have academic people to help us understand and coordinate what needs to be done,” he said.
“Mike and I personally get involved in that on a daily basis. We get daily reports and we meet weekly with our academic people in person to talk about what’s coming up, exams or applications for grad schools and things like that for some of our more senior players, and summer school when we get to the end of the spring.”
Let the progress continue.
Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
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.
