After an avalanche of reports regarding dysfunction within the North Carolina football program, culminating in a report of buyout negotiations, coach Bill Belichick met with reporters on Monday. He opened his media session by calling the reports “categorically false.”
Asked about the statement that was posted on Wednesday night regarding his commitment to the program, Belichick said that it was “just for clarification,” because some things reported were “factually, totally inaccurate.”
Later in the press conference, Belichick criticized the negative reports based on anonymous sources as “not credible,” adding that some stories were deleted two days after they were posted. (We’re not aware of any of the North Carolina reports from last week being deleted.)
Pat Welter of WRAL.com, whose report from last Monday seemed to spark the firestorm, asked Belichick for his response to the claims being made by people from inside the building and from around the program.
“I’m with all these people every day,” Belichick said. “Coaches, players, on field. Our guys work hard. They have a great attitude, great energy. And we’ve shown a lot of improvement. You know, we’ve made a lot of improvement. I think that’s exciting for all of us to see. Certainly for the individual players to see it, you know, and the units that they work with. So I don’t know what kind of perspective some of those people have that are saying that. But I think anybody that’s around it on a daily basis would see that and I’m sure the players all see the improvement that they’re making, as does the coaching staff.”
Belichick repeatedly mentioned the “process,” saying that it “will eventually produce the results that we want to produce, like they have everywhere else I’ve been.”
For now, the results haven’t been there. To say the least. They’ve beaten a pair of FCS schools, and they’ve been blown out by three FBS programs. Statistically, the UNC offense is among the worst in college football.
Next, the Tar Heels face Cal on Friday night. Whether the process will start producing results then remains to be seen.
