Bill Belichick Q&A: Reports 'Categorically False'

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina had its second open date of the season, following a home loss Clemson. The Tar Heels have been outscored by a resounding 120-33 margin against power-conference opponents this season.

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It was a rather hectic bye week for the Tar Heels — a rest period that turned into a media frenzy, swirling into rumors of program turmoil. Carolina continues on with ACC conference play this week, as it embarks on a cross-country trip to play at California on Friday (10:30 pm, ESPN). 

Here are the key points from coach Bill Belichick’s weekly presser with the media on Monday, his first availability since the open date drama. And see below for the full video from inside the Kenan Football Center …

Opening Statement

“I’ll just start with right off the bat, some of the reports out last week about me looking for a buyout and trying to leave here, all that is categorically false. Zero truth to any of that. Glad I’m here, we’re working towards our goals and the process, have great support from Chancellor (Lee) Roberts, Bubba (Cunnigham), Steve (Newmark) and so forth. Mike Lombardi, those people have all been great, and I appreciate all their help and everything. We just believe very much in the process, like Bill Walsh said, ‘the score will take care of itself.’ And I’ve always believed that you just got to keep working and grinding away. And that’s exactly what we’re doing. We had a good week last week on the field, a lot of improvement individually, both physically and from a football fundamental standpoint. And by units, obviously, guys that work together, offensive line, DBs, punt team and so forth. We’re a team of teams, and all those teams are all striving to be the very best that they can in the units that they represent. So looking forward to really turning our focus full speed ahead here towards Cal.”

What was the reason behind the statement you put out last Wednesday? Was it your idea to put out the statement?

“Just for clarification. There were a lot of things that, some things were reported that were just factually, totally inaccurate. And so make sure there goes up.”

And was it your idea?

“Yes. It was joint, yes.”

There were multiple reports of locker room culture issues within the program. What do you have to say about those claims?

“I’m with all these people every day, coaches, players on the field. Our guys work hard. They have a great attitude, great energy. And we’ve shown a lot of improvement. We’ve made a lot of improvements. I think that’s exciting for all of us to see, certainly for the individual players to see it, in the units that they work with. So I don’t know what kind of perspective some of those people have that are saying that, but I think anybody that’s around it on a daily basis would see that. I’m sure the players all see the improvement they’re making as does this coaching staff.”

Last game you had people clearing out in the first quarter. UNC has gone from a perennial bowl contender to statistically one of the worst teams in college football. People in this building are upset, fans are upset. You’re telling me that you believe this process is working?

“100 percent, absolutely. It’s a learning curve. We’re all in it together, but we’re making a lot of progress. And you know, the process will eventually produce the results we want to produce, like they have everywhere else I’ve been. So I’m very confident in that players are working hard, they’re getting better, and we’re going to continue to do that and improve.”

Do you expect any changes to be made among the coaching staff or just how you run the program?

“Yeah, we’re going to do everything we can every day to continue to improve. That’s what we do.”

What is your vision for the program right now? Is it rebuilding?

“Yeah, again, where we are right now is where we are, and we’re working hard every day to get better, and we’re getting better. Obviously, there are other components to it, in terms of recruiting and so forth, that will all come into play later. But right now, our team is committed to having its best week of practice, going out there and playing well against Cal. And we’re 2-3, and we’re trying to get back on track, and that’s what we’re working to do.”

What measures are you taking to ensure the team remains united despite all the distractions?

“What I see out there every day is guys ready to practice, practicing hard, preparing well and getting better. I think the team is obviously we’re all a little frustrated with the results, but the only thing we can do is continue to work and improve, and that’s what we’re doing. Guys have a good attitude, and they’re in here working every day. And as I said, we’ve made a ton of progress, both physically, in our strength, speed, stamina, all those things in terms of our execution on the field. But obviously, we had a slow start against Clemson, and that’s not the way to win. But we will hopefully play better.”

You obviously had a lot of success in the NFL and wanted to bring a lot of that experience to this program. But there is a much different landscape within college football. Do you feel you made some mistakes or assumptions early on that you wish you could have back?

“Look, we evaluate everything we do on a regular basis, whether it be weekly or at the end of spring football or at the end of a recruiting cycle, or whatever it is. Mid-season here, you know, and so forth. So we’re always looking to improve and self analyze, and also analysis of the team in the program, what we can do better, we’re always looking to get better. Like that will never change, and it’s always been that way for me.”

Do you get a sense that the way you guys are putting teams together needs to change moving forward? 

“When we got here, we had three defensive linemen. You can’t practice three defensive linemen. We went out and signed a lot of players. We signed players who didn’t have offers, or offers they didn’t want that were still, they kind of slid through the cracks in terms of the recruiting process. We signed players in the transfer portal that were available. We were late in the running on a lot. We’re late on in relationships. We were late on it in contacts. We ran out of time. We did the best we could. I think Michael and his staff did a great job of upgrading the roster, and then it was upgraded again in the spring after spring ball. Our football team is a lot better than what it was at the end of spring. The end of spring ball, I can tell you that. So I think that, in terms of the opportunities we had, we could have done some things going after some different players or whatever, I’d say we got the ones that we got, and there were others who were after that we didn’t get. But when you come in late on a recruiting end and on the portal end. We had a better chance in the second portal than we did in the first portal. And I think the results of that speak for themselves. Those are some of our best players.”

Is that one area of business you’ll change moving forward?

“I think we’ll take advantage of every opportunity we have to improve the team, whether that’s in the recruiting or whether it’s in transfer. Or most importantly, in developing the players that are here. This is a developmental program, like every program that I’ve ever been a part of. The idea is to get our players and get them better, get the best ones we can, and then the ones that are here work hard, coach them and let them improve. But in terms of bringing in new players, I would say, based on what the roster was when we got here, I think we did the best that we could. Could it have been better? Uh, we did the best we could.”

Some of the discontent swirling has been aimed at Michael Lombardi. Given that, have you gone back and revisited how you’re communicating with players in this program and recruits?

“We talked about it all the time, and we talked to the recruits all the time. Mike talks to the recruits and their families and their parents on a weekly, daily basis. We talk to recruits every week. As a staff, we call our recruits, our commits, some other players who are still, let’s say, to some degree of not committed. We do that on a regular basis. So not really sure what you know exactly you’re referring to. We can’t do it full-time because we’re trying to coach the team to get ready for games. But every single week, we talk to our commits and other recruits, both in 2026 and 2027, and in some cases the 2028 class. I was out this weekend. I saw a number of players in a couple high school games. Same thing two weekends before, where I saw players who had made commitments to us and other players who were in some state of decision making, let’s call it. And so we’re all actively doing it. The coaches are active. But as far as the phone calling and communication with our players and our recruits and our parents, and there’s coaches, we do a lot of that. We’ve had numerous kids, I don’t know the exact number, but I’d say over half have been at our three home games this year. And there’s more coming, in our subsequent home games that are following here.”

Michael sent a letter to donors a couple weeks ago expressing patience. What was the intent behind that?

“I think Michael’s done a great job of keeping the people close to the Carolina program up to date in what we’re doing, what our process is, what our progress is. They’ve reached out to help, how they can help, and what the relationships are. How all that comes together. There are a number of things we have going on, and our alumni and our donors and our supporters have been very supportive. … We’re all working together. We’re all learning together. And our team is our team, I like our team. I’m confident in our team. We’ve made a lot of progress right now. Unfortunately, the scoreboard doesn’t reflect that, but I’m very confident that it will show.”

What, if any, conversations have you had with any trustees, or anybody affiliated with the UNC outside the athletic department about the current direction?

“I’ve had conversations with, again, people inside, and I would consider those people part of our program, because they’re very supportive of it. But yeah, all those conversations are really private. I wouldn’t share private conversations publicly, but we can respect that.”

On Caleb Hood retiring from football:

“I don’t want to speak for him on that, so I won’t. I think it was a decision that he had contemplated for a while and he made the decision. After he made it, he and I talked. We had a great conversation. And again, I’ve had this conversation with many athletes in my career, we talked about it and said, I appreciate everything that Caleb did for our program. He came in. He worked extremely hard. He dealt with some things in the past, from an injury standpoint, he was basically healthy. I think he only missed two or three days the entire time he was here, he trained very hard. He thanked me for all the things that I did for him. I thanked him for the contributions and the work ethic and leadership he gave the team. And for him, it was time, and so I respect that and so I wanted to make sure that I complimented him for what he did. He made his statement based on his experience at Carolina, not just this year, but his entire career. So that’s how that came about.”

What is the status of Coach Armond Hawkins? Where does that investigation stand?

“That’s being handled internally. It’s being looked at and reviewed, and I really don’t want to comment on it because I’m not reviewing it.”

Gio Lopez was involved in a car accident before the season opener and he was taken to the hospital. Did that play any role in his health early on this season?

“No, he didn’t miss any practice time. He was healthy to do everything that we asked him to do.”

Thaddeus Dixon suffered an injury that many are reporting could be long term. Do you have an update on him?

“He won’t be available this week. He’ll be at least a couple more weeks. I’m not sure exactly how that’s going to turn out. We’ll just take it day-by-day, or week-by-week here for a couple weeks and see. Thad was one of our, certainly one of our best players, trained very hard as one of our team captains gave a lot of leadership to the team. As one of our, again, most experienced and oldest players played a lot of football, seeing a lot of football, so it’s a tough injury for him. Especially kind of a non-compact, when he landed, it kind of hit in a weird place. And so it was, not like, I don’t say normal injuries, but it’s kind of different. But I’ve seen him, I’ve talked to him. He’s a great competitor. He’s already bouncing back, and we’ll see what happens.”

Who scrapped the Hulu series documentary and why?

“It’s still a work in progress, and we’re working through a few logistics on it. So no real update at this time. But there will be something.”

What do you say about these anonymous sources who are speaking out about their experiences with their program? And are you looking for a leak?

“Well, again, we’re always looking to improve and upgrade anything that we’re doing. So again, I talk to everybody on a regular basis, our staff, our players, captains, meetings, and other people involved with the program. There’s something we can do to improve it and upgrade it, then we’re going to consider it and act on it if we feel like it’s a positive thing. So always looking to do that.”

Do you have an issue with people speaking out and not naming themselves?

“Well, I mean, some of those, as I mentioned at the beginning here, some of those are not just not credible. So I think it’s up to you to decide which ones are and which ones aren’t. But those stories come down two days after they’re posted. You have to decide how valid they are. That’s your job.”

Talking about buyout talks not being credit, is there anything else off the top of your head you want to refute?

“You guys have your job to do, and you know I’m gonna do mine the best I can. So let’s leave it at that.”