Just five days after suffering the second-worst loss of his 30 seasons as a head football coach, six-time Super Bowl winner Bill Belichick recorded his first win at the college level Saturday, albeit against an overmatched opponent. But Belichick and his North Carolina Tar Heels were not exactly impressive, managing just 20 points against the Charlotte 49ers.
Belichick’s team entered the game as 15.5 point betting favorites, according to NBC Sports, yet with a 20-3 win barely managed to cover that spread against Charlotte — a school that did not even have a varsity football program until 2013.
Nonetheless, the win was a landmark in Belichick’s first season as a college coach — after the embarrassment of the Tar Heels’ Labor Day drubbing at the hands of Texas Christian, 48-14, the first time any Belichick-coached team allowed 48 points in a game — after 511 previous games with Belichick at the helm.
Feud With Patriots Overshadows Belichick Victory
And yet somehow, Belichick managed to overshadow his own maiden college victory — which was also his first road win as a college coach — by continuing his ongoing and, at this point, mostly one-sided feud with his former employers, the New England Patriots.
In his postgame press conference following the win over Charlotte, Belichick was asked about earlier reports that he had banned Patriots scouts from attending Tar Heels’ practices to scout players for the NFL team.
Belichick confirmed those reports and made clear that his decision was personal, and not made for football-related reasons.
Belichick Ripped Over Feud
“It’s clear I’m not welcome there at their facility. So they’re not welcome at ours,” Belichick stated. “It’s pretty simple.”
After current Patriots coach Mike Vrabel disputed Belichick’s claim that he is “not welcome” at the Patriots headquarters in Foxborough, Massachusetts, Pro Football Talk founder Mike Florio ripped Belichick over his feud with the New England organization, in a Tuesday PFT broadcast.
Belichick Situation Called ‘Ugly Mess’
“It’s just an ugly mess. And it’s sad that it’s come to this,” Florio commented on the broadcast, in an exchange with former Patriots four-time Super Bowl-winning safety Devin McCourty. “And I also can’t look away because you’ve got the greatest coach of all time, arguably, who is acting like a five-year-old.”
But McCourty, who spent his entire 13-year NFL career playing for the Patriots under Belichick, took a more optimistic approach than Florio, saying he believes Belichick will “fix” his behavior toward the team that he took from perennial also-ran to six Super Bowl wins and nine Super Bowl appearances in his 24 years in New England.
McCourty also expressed some sympathy for Belichick.
Ex-Player Suggests Motive For Belichick Bitterness
If that is true that he was blocked, or even if he just feels that (Patriots owner Robert) Kraft went out of his way to stop him from getting a job, I think that makes all this make more sense, for how long he’s coached for what he did for the Patriots organization,” McCourty told Florio on the Tuesday program.
McCourty was referring to reports that surfaced after Belichick was fired by Kraft following the 2023 season. The legendary coach was unable to land another NFL head coaching job, and was granted only one reported job interview, with the Atlanta Falcons.
But according to an ESPN.com report, Kraft said something to Falcons owner Arthur Blank that may have discouraged him from hiring Belichick.
Bill Belichick Flamed as ‘5-Year-Old’ By Top NBC Commentator