Bill Belichick gives first comments since various allegations against UNC's football team were made public
· Yahoo Sports
North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick spoke to the media on Monday.
It was the first time he had spoken since the details of the various investigations into the program came to light. At the start of the press conference, it was announced that, because the investigations are ongoing, neither Belichick nor the players would be able to speak about them.
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Belichick addressed the situation briefly.
“[We] understand the importance of the work that’s being done by the investigative team.
And obviously our high standard of our code of conduct, doing things the right way, and making sure that our student athletes are given the utmost, best treatment, best care and very best coaching that we can possibly give them so that’s critically important to us.”
Belichick was asked if his program had an atmosphere of compliance. His answer was, “Yeah, totally,” and he didn’t expand or add any further details.
A reporter tried to ask about the investigation, but when Belichick reminded them that he couldn’t speak on the investigation, the reporter rephrased and asked: “What indications do we have, based on the last year and everything that has been reported, that you have control of this program?”
Belichick again was brief and responded, “If you were around here every day, I think you’d see it.”
He then went on to brief the media on the Tar Heels’ upcoming game against East Tennessee State University on Saturday. When asked how his son Steve Belichick, the defensive coordinator, was doing, the head coach confirmed that he was still on medical leave.
Steve has been away from the program since August 6. All that Bill said about the situation when it was announced was that “Steve is on medical leave. We look forward to getting him back as soon as possible.” The defensive coordinator did not make the trip to Dublin for UNC’s win over TCU to begin the season.
The head coach had no updates on hiring a new general manager or replacing his son as defensive coordinator. The press conference was dominated by questions about the investigation, but Belichick ensured that he didn’t say anything he wasn’t permitted to, not giving much to those in attendance.
UNC’s football program has been under scrutiny since before the season began. There was an internal investigation into former general manager Michael Lombardi, who has since resigned from the program.
Lombardi was reportedly investigated by the university over allegations related to an HR dispute involving a former UNC front office employee.
The program is also dealing with a secondary investigation. Steve Belichick is reportedly being looked at after claims that he may have used drugs on the job or provided drugs to at least one player.
A separate investigation is concerned with whether or not a member of UNC’s recruiting staff had a sexual relationship with a player. Similarly, there is an investigation into whether there were possible sexual relationships between assistant coaches and recruiting staff.
The investigations could be a distraction for the program, but that wasn’t evident in the Week 0 win over Dublin. The Tar Heels will look to improve to 2-0 as they take on ETSU on Saturday.