Mike Vrabel: Bill Belichick 'welcome' at Patriots facility despite UNC ban

The fallout between Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots has been very public since the end of his tenure there. That recently extended to Belichick’s new job as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels. There, it was recently reported that he banned Patriots scouts from attending practices in Chapel Hill.

That odd move seems to stem from the tension between Belichick and New England. He even recently explained that “I’m not welcome at their facility, so they’re not welcome at ours.” Despite that, the Patriots have seemingly responded to him with open arms.

Current Patriots head coach Mike Vrabel played for Bill Belichick in New England, winning three Super Bowls together. He clearly has a lot of respect for his former coach, though, and shared that Belichick is welcome to join the team, as far as he knows.

“Bill came back for, to the best of my knowledge, [to] Tom’s ceremony,” Vrabel said on WEEI. “So I guess he’s welcomed back based on the fact he was there. I’ll just go by that — since his departure as the head coach here, he’s been back. I’ll leave it at that.”

Mike Vrabel is referencing Tom Brady‘s in-stadium Hall of Fame ceremony at Gillette Stadium. That was back in June of 2024, months after the Patriots parted ways with the coach who became a legend roaming those sidelines for better than two decades. During that time, he took New England to nine Super Bowls and won six of them. So, it’s no surprise Belichick received an ovation at Brady’s induction and can expect his own induction one day.

During the 2024 season, Belichick’s son Brian remained on the Patriots staff despite the team moving on from Bill. His other son, Steve, went to Washington before joining Bill on his staff at North Carolina for the 2025 season.

If there is a strain between Bill Belichick and New England, it appears to be between the legendary head coach and owner Robert Kraft. That seemed to bubble over in his portrayal in recent media, like the Apple+ documentary, The Dynasty. Later, Belichick would comment that running a program at North Carolina was easier because, “There’s no owner; there’s no owner’s son.” That, of course, has been seen by some as immature. That includes The Volume‘s John Middlekauff.

“Which is funny but also kind of embarrassing,” Middlekauff said. “Because Bill, for multiple decades, my guess is made over $200 million working for Robert Kraft. Became an absolute NFL legend, winning Super Bowls, going to Super Bowls, and just kicking the sh*t out of everybody with Tom Brady. Then, it got ugly, and he lost and he got fired. You know what that’s called? Football… People get fired, but to ban the New England Patriots is like an FU to Robert Kraft.”

Bill Belichick opened his tenure at North Carolina to much fanfare, but suffered one of the worst losses of his career in Week 1 against TCU. The Tar Heels would bounce back with a win against Charlotte. Meanwhile, Mike Vrabel began his tenure in New England with a loss to the Raiders.