The first few months of the Bill Belichick era at the University of North Carolina have been far more bizarre than anyone in Chapel Hill likely expected it would be, but until the Tar Heels play a game, there’s no disputing one thing… this is a bet that the school, which is trying to keep pace with the likes of the Clemson Tigers and Miami Hurricanes in the ACC, absolutely had to make. After all, this is arguably the greatest football coach of all-time we’re talking about here.
And understandably, everyone in Chapel Hill is eager to find out what the program will be like with Belichick at the helm. The good news is, earlier this week, a handful of North Carolina players spoke with the Associated Press about what the first few months of this unprecedented football experiment have been like.
“You get a lot of ‘How is Coach Belichick? What’s new? What’s different?’” Tar Heels cornerback Hardy said, per the Associated Press. “So I’ve rehearsed these questions a lot with family and friends.”
The answer to that question:
“I’ve loved having 1-on-1 conversations with him,” Hardy said. “It’s cool to see and meet him personally, because you grow up and see him on TV and everything. And he’s just a completely different coach and guy when you get to be around him all day. “There are times when he’ll just crack a joke out of nowhere,” he said. “And just him being kind of monotone sometimes will make those jokes so funny.”
Most of Will Hardy’s teammates seem to feel the same way.
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“You’re coming to the first meeting and you’re expecting it to be serious, 100% locked in,” says wide receiver Jordan Shipp. “He comes in and he introduces himself and then he busts a joke. That’s the second thing he said.”
But as would be expected from a six-time Super Bowl champion, it hasn’t just been fun and games in Chapel Hill since Belichick’s arrival. In place are the same expectations Belichick had of the Patriots for over two decades.
“You see the way that he approaches the game, you see how hard he works, there’s no question why he has the success that he has,” Holy Cross transfer Christo Kelly explains. “The attention to detail, the emphasis on fundamentals, and really just kind of creating competition for the guys, that’s what’s getting built here. Guys are embracing it. He treats everybody with tremendous respect, and it’s been great.”
Glowing quotes like these are great, and frankly, they’re not too surprising based on the version of Bill Belichick we’ve seen since his tenure with the New England Patriots ended. But ultimately, Belichick won’t be judged for how he treats his players. As always, it will come down to the wins and losses.