Bill Belichick stood at the microphone in a crowded room of reporters. North CarolinaThe season ended with a lopsided loss to the nearest rival to end the four-win season.
And the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach was in no mood to talk much about it.
In fact, it’s worth a little more than four minutes.
“Look, the season just ended a few minutes ago, okay?” Belichick said after the 42-19 loss nc state on Saturday night. “So now we’re going to go into the offseason. That’s what we’re going to do.”
UNC started the year with buzz and national headlines, filled with optimism — or perhaps just hope — that the NFL icon could take the program a little further as a first-time college coach. By the end of the season, Belichick had fielded a team that had more losses by a double-digit margin (five) than total wins, while constantly offering unwanted off-field headlines.
The final blow came in Raleigh, where the Wolfpack and coach Dave Doeren were very eager to hold off the Tar Heels for the fifth consecutive year in front of a usually rowdy home crowd. And it sent the 73-year-old Belichick into the offseason with a final blow, with no glimmers of hope after close losses or modest gains shown in wins against some of the ACC’s worst teams.
He also gave some insight into what message he gave his first college team after a season full of promise ended on a bad note.
“I’ll keep my message to the team between me and the team,” Belichick said.
fight on the field
The Tar Heels (4–8, 2–6) ended the season with three consecutive losses to state league opponents, the first time wake up forest On 15th November and again on home ground ruler last weekend.
That season saw the Tar Heels lose five games by 16 or more points, starting with a 48–14 loss TCU on Labor Day – which drew ESPN’s “College GameDay” to Chapel Hill and generated countless headlines about Belichick’s arrival at the college level.
This turned out to be just the beginning of trouble, with huge losses in the first months ucf And at home CLEMSON The team that will finish that program with the lowest win output in 15 years. UNC’s three wins were against Bowl Subdivision programs with a combined 8–28 record (Charlotte, Syracuse and Stanford).
That’s hardly in line with expectations, after which the school hired Belichick on a deal that included a guaranteed $10 million in base and supplemental games in each of the first three seasons, as well as heightened investment in the program for personnel and elsewhere. This notably included general manager Michael Lombardi saying that the Tar Heels “consider themselves the 33rd [NFL] Team” in its heavily pro-influence and approach.
till the end?
“It’s hard to put it in one word,” receiver jordan ship When asked how he would describe the season he said. “Of course, we didn’t expect the season to go like this.”
off-field hiccups
The headlines were not limited to game days only.
Belichick had banned scouts from the New England Patriots — the team he led to those six Super Bowls with Tom Brady — as part of his own bitter relationship with his former franchise.
An assistant coach was suspended due to NCAA rule violations. The school released brief statements from Belichick and athletic director Bubba Cunningham confirming the marriage between Belichick and UNC, which in itself is indicative of how tumultuous the first few weeks of Belichick’s tenure have been.
A midseason report by Raleigh’s WRAL TV presented an image of turmoil behind the scenes as well as cited several players for speeding or reckless driving. And there was tabloid-level interest in Belichick’s relationship with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordan Hudson, who was a frequent sideline presence before games.
This created plenty of fodder for opponents to pounce on the man many consider the greatest NFL coach of all time, who amassed 333 regular season and playoff wins and trails only Don Shula (347) for the NFL record. And it often involved Belichick fielding news-conference questions that veered away from the game he knows well.
loss to nc state
Doran knows Belichick’s history well. But he also understands the UNC-NC State rivalry between schools that share the 919 area code and are separated by about a 30-minute drive along Interstate 40.
That showed how his team jumped on the Tar Heels, scoring touchdowns on all four drives of the first half and taking a 28-10 lead at the break.
For the record, Doeren has defeated UNC five years in a row and is 9–4 against the Tar Heels in Raleigh. He’s now 1-0 against Belichick, who was bundled up on this 34-degree night in a puffy navy blue winter coat with a light blue interlocking-NC logo.
Belichick subsequently gave Doran a quick midfield handshake, leaving no chance for conversation.
“It’s definitely something that motivated me,” Doeren said of the matchup. “I have a lot of respect for Bill. I mean, how can you not? He’s one of the greatest NFL coaches of all time. … There was definitely a pep in my step this week. I wanted that win, that was the competitive part of me against him. It’s very meaningful.”
players lead
Once Belichick met with reporters, he dodged any major questions about the season.
“We’re working on a team every week,” Belichick said. “I’m sorry I don’t have a recap of the season for you. I don’t even have one, we didn’t do it.”
Rather, he left Shipp and linebacker Khamori House To be a leader in answering what went wrong and what happens next.
“We showed flashes, but we didn’t do enough to get some wins,” Shipp said. “We know internally we’re not as bad as our record shows,” he said.
Both took questions from reporters for longer periods of time than Belichick, with Shipp speaking almost twice as long (seven and a half minutes). This included asking the House how he would describe this most unusual season.
“I would describe it as a roller coaster, ups and downs,” he said, “but a lesson.”
