Will Bill Belichick dispute with the Patriots be positive for UNC?
Bill Belichick He received the ball from the game on Saturday after the triumph of North Carolina 20-3 about Charlotte. This was his first victory as a university coach after winning 333 games (including playoffs) in the NFL.
However good the recovery performance of the Tar Heels has been, it is certainly possible that you have enjoyed even more than another result of the weekend: Las Vegas 20, New England 13.
Belichick is a great of all time in two things: Win football matches and save grudges even for the most insignificant things. One thing usually feeds the other. Belichick is often at his best when he has to show a villain, real or imaginary, who is wrong.
That is why UNC fans should feel encouraged by the fact that Belichick is still so angry at their former NFL franchise that would resort to children's clown how to prohibit the cazatalents of the New England Patriots enter the American football building of the Tar Heels.
“It's obvious that I'm not welcome at its facilities,” Belichick said Saturday. “So they are not welcome in ours.”
This, so that it is clear, is comically ridiculous. The easy joke, based on the humiliating defeat of UNC by 48-10 against TCU in the first game of the season, is that if Belichick really wanted to condemn the PATS, he would get them to recruit several of his players.
However, in reality, it is just another sign that Belichick has not forgiven the owner of New England, Robert Kraft, for his separation after a 4-13 campaign in 2023. It is possible that he partially blames the lack of interest of the NFL in hiring him to Kraft the contempt of the other owners.
In fact, it is not obvious that Belichick is prohibited in the Patriots facilities.
The current New England coach Mike Vrababel, former Belichick player, said on Monday that Belichick is always welcome and highlighted the presence of Belichick in a ceremony in June 2024 in honor of Tom Brady.
“Since he left the position of chief coach, he has returned,” said Vrabel. “I leave it there.”
UNC hired Belichick to revitalize his program, often decent, but rarely excellent. In doing so, you are enjoying the complete experience of BB: the good, the bad, the soap opera. Maybe even a winning team.
There will be no boring moments. North Carolina should understand this about her new coach. Belichick usually feeds on disputes.
Belichick's motivation to build the Patriots emerged, in part, to demonstrate that it was more than the Bill Parcells defensive coordinator. The disputes with the league directive for the Spygate and the Deflategate sharpened it to win six Super Bowls.
It has always been characterized by small gestures of challenge, such as cutting the sweatshirt sleeves after the NFL required coaches to wear Reebok clothes in the band, for example. It is countercultural, even when it became the cultural figure, or an unexpected fashion influencer.
His fight with Kraft is only the most recent.
In addition to ceasing to be the Patriots coach, Belichick was frequently presented negatively in the 10 episodes “The Dynasty” of Apple TV, which was released in 2024 and whose distribution rights belong to Kraft, according to a report by Don Van Natta Jr. de Espn. The team has denied any editorial influence on the project.
The answer has been Belichick's classic.
His autobiography, “the art of winning,” published last summer, does not mention a single time to Kraft, his boss for 24 years. He and his partner, Jordon Hudson, have also fought a registered brand war with the Patriots for certain phrases (“do your job”/”do your work”, for example) that the team currently possesses. The US patent and trademarks office, according to Mike Rothstein de ESPN, has rejected Belichick's requests.
Then were Belichick's comments to Boston Globe about the positive aspects of being a university coach.
“There is no owner, there is no son of the owner, there is no salary limit, everything related to marketing and everything else, something that supports totally,” Belichick said. “But it is much less than it was at that level. …
“I would say that when we had our best years in New England, we had fewer people and a more direct vision. And as that expanded, it became more difficult to succeed.”
The Palaciega intrigue about the greatest NFL dynasty will continue for years, particularly involving Belichick's triumvirate, Brady and Kraft, the owner who has never hesitated to attract attention. It is always interesting. Guilt can vary according to perspective. Merit too.
Last week, Kraft, at least publicly, tried to offer an olive branch when he told WBZ-TV that he wanted a statue of Belichick outside the Gillette Stadium, next to Brady's.
“When Bill's race ends, we hope to sit with him and make a statue with Tommy,” Kraft said.
Apparently, Belichick did not flinch.
None of this has an obvious impact on winning the ACC, which is the objective of Belichick's current position. That said, it does not necessarily harm the cause.
One of the risks of hiring a first -time university coach at 73 is that he sees work as a way to take his time, work with his children and have fun. That has been the main case of the former NFL ex -rectors who arrive at the NCAA, and rarely works.
Belichick's resentment towards the Patriots, to the point that their cazatotestos are prohibited from entering Chapel Hill, is at least a sign of something different. Belichick knows that Foxborough's declaration of war does not have much weight if UNC is losing. Living well, after all, is the best revenge.
Belichick could be relentlessly concentrated on reaching the College Football Playoff … Even if only to highlight Kraft.
Who cares about motivation? What matters are the results.
And just imagine if, along the way, learn to hate Duke Oa Dabo.
