The wheels are coming off in Chapel Hill.
Beyond the poor performance of the football team (except when playing FCS schools), more stuff is coming out regarding a program that has become more dysfunctional than anyone could have predicted, especially from the self-styled NFL’s 33rd franchise.
A Monday article from Pat Welter of WRAL.com contained multiple jarring revelations regarding the situation. Welter’s reporting reveals, as the story puts it, “a divided locker room, a disorganized coaching staff and a failure to communicate.”
“It’s an unstructured mess,” one source with first-hand knowledge of the program told Welter. “There’s no culture, no organization. It’s a complete disaster.”
Welter reported, among other things, that players are selling their spare tickets. This prompted, per Welter, a Tuesday message from the school to all players.
“This is a friendly reminder that you are NOT to sell or exchange your complimentary tickets for any item of value,” the unsigned screen shot from someone’s Notes app said. “You may give the tickets to anyone you choose without receiving anything in return. Although some NCAA rules have recently changed, this rule has not. Selling your tickets or receiving an extra benefit still impacts your eligibility to compete in intercollegiate athletics.”
(With or without this directive, players selling their tickets likely won’t be an issue moving forward. Who in the hell would buy them?)
Coupled with Tuesday’s report that secondary coach Armond Hawkins has been suspended for providing extra benefits to player families, the situation raises the specter of institutional control, or lack thereof, on coach Bill Belichick’s watch. Which could give North Carolina an opening to build a case for termination of the balance of his contract for cause.
Which would short-circuit his buyout.
Spin it forward. If/when folks from UNC compliance show up to start asking questions, how will Belichick and/or G.M. Mike Lombardi respond? Will they cooperate? Or will they be dismissive? Will they admit to flaws, or will they circle the wagons and/or make excuses and/or blame others. (Maybe the Patriots are behind it.)
Regardless, the chickens have come home to roost following months of crowing from Lombardi about how well things would operate under the greatest coach of all time.
At the college level, the greatest NFL coach of all times seems to have been over his skis. And the crash is now happening. In slow motion.