Despite North Carolina falling to 2-3 following a 38-10 blowout loss to Clemson on Saturday, Bill Belichick received some much-needed recruiting material on Sunday night thanks to Drake Maye’s breakout performance in the New England Patriots’ victory over the Buffalo Bills in primetime.
And while it took longer than expected for the Tar Heels to use it, they finally did so, with a Monday morning post showcasing one of Maye’s highlights.
.@DrakeMaye2 pulling off some magic, where have we seen this before 🤔
🔟➡️8️⃣ pic.twitter.com/qTd8sqorsc
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) October 6, 2025
The timing of the post doesn’t seeml like a coincidence, as it came nearly two hours after 247Sports’ Ross Martin reported that Belichick has forbidden his program from posting about his former team, despite its second-year quarterback being one of the league’s emerging stars this season. Martin’s report resulted in multiple stories and social media posts being written about the apparent ban, as well as a possible subtweet from Belichick’s predecessor in Chapel Hill, Mack Brown.
According to sources inside the UNC football program, it is a directive from the staff (Bill Belichick) to not tweet/retweet anything Patriots-related.
That’s clearly why UNC football has not posted anything from Drake Maye’s electric primetime win over the Buffalo Bills.
— Ross Martin (@RossMartinNC) October 6, 2025
So Happy for Drake. Fun to watch him win last night in Buffalo like he did so many times at UNC. Love ❤️ and Appreciate you my friend! Keep it rolling! pic.twitter.com/BlfuJOGSto
— Mack Brown (@CoachMackBrown) October 6, 2025
As Martin noted, the North Carolina football program’s official X account is currently devoid of any Maye-related content. The Tar Heels’ social media feed did, however, post about the two touchdowns that Javonte Williams scored for the Dallas Cowboys on Sunday, indicating a willingness to promote the play of the program’s non-New England alums.
This isn’t the first time that Belichick’s apparent issues with his former employer have interfered with his first season as a college head coach. Last month, the 6-time Super Bowl champion head coach confirmed that he had banned Patriots scouts from the North Carolina football complex, stating that he did so because he isn’t currently welcomed in New England’s facility.
Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel subsequently denied the claim, noting that his former head coach had attended a celebration for Tom Brady in New England a year prior. Add it all up and there still seems to be plenty of bad blood stemming from Belichick’s departure from New England following the 2023 season, including disputes over whether he was fired or if the two sides mutually parted ways.
But regardless of how the 73-year-old head coach might feel about his former franchise, it seems foolish for the Tar Heels to not use Maye’s recent emergence as a recruiting opportunity. Meanwhile, the coach who Belichick replaced in Chapel Hill clearly has no qualms about celebrating his former quarterback, as evidenced by Mack Brown’s post on X, which came just minutes after Martin’s report on Monday morning.