North Carolina Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick explained to reporters following Saturday’s win that his decision to ban New England Patriots scouts from accessing the program stems from tension with his former team. However, it appears the other 31 NFL franchises are also having their access restricted by Belichick.
Albert Breer of Sports Illustrated reported that all 31 other NFL teams that visit Chapel Hill to evaluate Tar Heels players can interact with only one person on the entire staff and are limited in what they can observe during practices.
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“The other 31 teams that show up looking to scout his players have only been given access to one UNC staffer—pro liaison Frantzy Jourdain, who spent 14 seasons working for Belichick in New England (2003 to ’16)—and are only allowed at parts of practice. That, in turn, has limited how much those teams can gather on the players they’re trying to evaluate as NFL prospects.”
SI’s Albert Breer on the restrictions North Carolina Tar Heels HC Bill Belichick has put on NFL teams
Days after North Carolina’s blowout home loss to the TCU Horned Frogs, which marked the worst loss in Tar Heels history, Bruce Feldman and Jeff Howe of The Athletic reported that Bill Belichick barred Patriots scouts from practices and speaking with coaches.
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Speaking to reporters after his first win as a college head coach, Belichick said his decision was based on the Patriots organization not allowing him at their facility.
“It’s clear I’m not welcome there around their facility. And so they’re not welcome at ours.”
Bill Belichick on why he barred New England Patriots scouts from practices, meeting with North Carolina coaches
However, New England head coach Mike Vrabel noted that Belichick is welcome and recalled seeing him when the team held Tom Brady’s Hall of Fame ceremony at the stadium in 2024. A source close to the Tar Heels coach told ESPN that Belichick’s decision to bar Patriots scouts from North Carolina was more about the lack of respect he felt from the franchise.
Belichick’s feelings may make it seem like he is trying to get back at the team that parted ways with him, but it comes at a cost. While NFL scouts don’t view the Tar Heels roster as rich in draftable talent, one AFC scouting director explained to Albert Breer that the hoops created by Belichick will simply result in potential late-round or priority undrafted free-agent players being overlooked.
“Nobody is mad about UNC being a s—y visit. They don’t have players. They aren’t talented. The only people who are gonna suffer is the UNC seniors who may be late-round guys or undrafted [free agents]. When we don’t have ample background on guys, and they are late round/UDFA types, we just move on to another guy with similar skill that we know more about.”
AFC scouting director on how senior players for North Carolina Tar Heels’ football team are impacted by Bill Belichick’s restrictions on NFL scouts
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Given how unprepared Belichick and his staff were for coaching and recruiting at the collegiate level, it is not surprising that he is making decisions that could hurt his players’ chances of reaching the NFL. This will likely affect the number of players Belichick can tell recruits he got into the NFL next season.
Combined with a poor performance on the field, this could harm the Tar Heels’ ability to recruit and bring in new talent. While this might prove to be a bigger problem in the short term for general manager Michael Lombardi, it will ultimately leave Belichick with a weaker roster to coach.
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NFL, MLB & college football writer for Sportsnaut. Graduated from San Diego State University with BA in Journalism, 2019. ... More about Matt Johnson