Carolina’s week off has been anything but.
Head coach Bill Belichick’s Tar Heels have been embroiled in controversy since their loss to Clemson at Kenan Stadium on October 4. The following Monday, WRAL published an explosive investigative report into the state of Belichick’s program, detailing a “toxic” environment. The report cited parents and families of players, who described players recruited by Belichick (as opposed to those recruited by former head coach Mack Brown) receiving preferential treatment and avoiding punishment for missed classes.
In the report, general manager Michael Lombardi is described as “nasty,” while some complained that Belichick was inaccessible to parents. Details also surfaced of players selling their game tickets to outside consumers, which is a violation of NCAA rules.
The following day, UNC suspended assistant coach Armond Hawkins for providing impermissible benefits to the family of a player. The benefits reportedly included sideline passes. The same day, Inside Carolina reported the Hulu docuseries chronicling the UNC season which had previously been in the works would not be released.
Wednesday, October 8 proved to be a pivotal day in the ongoing saga. Throughout the day, reports surfaced from numerous sources that Belichick and UNC were working on an “exit strategy,” which could potentially include a reduced buyout for Belichick should the school fire him. Normally, if UNC were to fire Belichick, it would owe him the rest of the guaranteed money on his contract, which is $20 million. However, were Belichick to leave voluntarily, he would pay the school $1 million.
Ollie Connolly, an NFL writer for The Guardian, posted a thread on social media saying some staffers within the program believe a leadership change could come “within two weeks,” and that reports of “serious” recruiting violations are being investigated.
Were UNC to find violations within Belichick’s program, the school could potentially fire him with cause, which would mean Belichick’s buyout would be voided.
However, late Wednesday night, both Belichick and athletic director Bubba Cunningham released brief statements on social media reaffirming their commitment to one another.
Said Belichick, “I’m fully committed to UNC Football and the program we’re building here.”
“Coach Belichick has the full support of the Department of Athletics and University,” Cunningham said.
In the wake of the conflicting reports, UNC student body president Adolfo Alvarez told The Athletic an independent review of Belichick’s program is needed.
“I think that there should be zero tolerance for non-compliance,” Alvarez said. “Even though sometimes student-athletes can be seen as young professional players, at the end of the day, they are students, they’re young, and they are part of our community. They’re under a lot of pressure and they’re very often under the national media circus. Especially right now with coach Belichick. That shouldn’t come at the cost of their well-being, and their families also deserve to feel included, and they deserve to feel like they’re getting the same consistency that UNC was known for under our last coach.”
UNC will not play again until Friday, October 17 at 10:30 p.m. Eastern time, when the Tar Heels visit Cal.
Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
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