For one brief shining moment, the focus of North Carolina’s football program was finally on the football field.
And in a positive way.
The Tar Heels shook off another drama-filled summer with a Week 0 win against TCU in Dublin, Ireland. Even though their performance wasn’t overly impressive it was still a victory, which made it an encouraging result after going 4-8 in Bill Belichick’s debut season a year ago.
But the shine didn’t even last until the next game. Instead of talking about the likelihood of a 2-0 start heading into Saturday’s home opener against East Tennessee State, a team that lost to Campbell last week, the conversation surrounding UNC has shifted to a growing controversy that could lead to the end of Belichick’s tenure in Chapel Hill.
Maybe even before the season is over.
Since returning from the Aer Lingus College Football Classic with a crystal trophy in tow, UNC has had its general manager Michael Lombardi resign under the cloud of a human resources complaint, had defensive coordinator Steve Belichick – the head coach’s son, currently on medical leave – implicated in an investigation into drug and sex allegations, and now lost the opportunity to host prospective recruits at Saturday’s game as punishment for a self-reported NCAA violation.
It’s a situation Bill Belichick addressed in familiar fashion at his regularly scheduled Monday press conference by dodging the specifics and saying that he and his team are “moving on to ETSU.”
“I understand the importance of the work that’s being done by the investigative team and obviously our high standard here, our code of conduct … so that’s critically important to us,” Belichick said, adding that he’s not allowed to comment on the investigation. “We’re day-by-day and we’re definitely doing the best we can to prepare for ETSU.”
Saturday’s game is the Tar Heels’ final tuneup before a difficult stretch that includes their ACC opener at Clemson, a home game against Notre Dame and back-to-back road tests against Pittsburgh and Duke.
While Belichick and his players remain locked in on ETSU and the start of UNC’s 100th season at Kenan Stadium, university investigators are spending their time looking into allegations of improper sexual relationships and drug use within the football program.
Lombardi, Belichick’s first hire and the highest-paid GM in college football, has been under investigation since being placed on administrative leave in late July. News that the probe had expanded to include other staff members – including Belichick’s son – was first reported by Raleigh television station WRAL only hours after his resignation was announced last Friday.
According to the WRAL report, investigators are asking questions about Steve Belichick’s alleged drug use and the possibility that he may have provided drugs to at least one player. There are also allegations of improper sexual relationships between female members of UNC’s recruiting staff, assistant coaches and possibly players.
It is not clear whether Bill Belichick is among those being investigated.
“Obviously everybody’s responsible, including me, for doing things properly,” he said. “And we intend to do that.”
Even if the six-time Super Bowl championship coach isn’t directly implicated in the allegations, he could still be held responsible for a failure to maintain institutional control of his program. Although the specifics are different, the current controversy is reminiscent of an earlier scandal that led to the dismissal of another high-profile former NFL coach, Butch Davis.
When asked about his level of responsibility for the current situation, Belichick insisted that there is “totally” an atmosphere of compliance within his program.
“Yeah, I’m aware of all the NCAA rules,” Belichick said, adding that “I can’t tell you that I know the rulebook word for word.”
Belichick would be owed a buyout of $30 million if he’s let go before Dec. 31, 2027. But because of a clause in his contract, he could forfeit that amount and be fired for cause if he had knowledge of improper conduct by any member of his staff without reporting it to school officials.
At least for the time being, such a doomsday scenario is still premature.
“I have an ongoing relationship and communication with the university and they’ve been very supportive,” Belichick said. “In the end, we want to run the program in the very best way. If there are things we need to do to correct it, then we’ll obviously do them.”
Until then, it’s on to ETSU and for a few precious moments, another brief distraction from the continuing drama that UNC football has become.