Bill Belichick Q&A: 'Important to Win in the State'

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Bill Belichick and North Carolina (3-5, 1-3 ACC) kick off their stretch of three straight in-state opponents by taking the short trip to play Wake Forest (6-3, 3-3 ACC) on Saturday at Allegacy Stadium. The Demon Deacons are under the direction of first-year coach Jake Dickert. They have won four of their last five games, including an upset win at No. 14 Virginia last week.

Here are the key points and full video from Belichick’s weekly availability with the media on Tuesday inside the Kenan Football Center …

Opening Statement

“Certainly a very impressive win for Wake Forest last weekend against Virginia. Statistically, Virginia had an edge in a lot of areas, but the three turnovers that Wake got and the return were some big game changing plays. I think it just highlights the type of team that Jake (Dickert) has there. I think Jake’s done a great job, as he did at Washington State. He has several other people on his staff with him, but he did a tremendous job out there. He’s got a lot of good football players. They’re a very good football team. They’re well coached. They’re good in every area. They’re good on special teams, they’re good on defense and they’re good on offense. They have some very good skill players offensively. … Defensively they’re very disciplined, they’re tough. They can rush the passer. They play the run well. They’re a very physically taxing team. So a big challenge for us out there. Back in the state, so we know that that intensity is going to be high for this game, as it should be. And (we) look forward to it.”

What have you learned about these Tobacco Road rivalries and Big Four rivalries since you’ve been here?

“I’ve been in a lot of (rivalries) before but the ones regionally are just different. And Tobacco Road we’ve certainly talked about that with a lot of people who have played in a lot of these games, or coached in them or been around them. Historically we’re catching up on it, but we even saw in the Charlotte game that  it’s a little bit different when you play in-state. Every high school kid wants to win a state championship. And when you’re playing at this level, it’s important to win in the state. We know what it’s going to be, they’re a good football team, no matter where they’re located. But we know it’s an in-state game, and it’s going to be tough and it’s in their place. I’m sure there’ll be a lot of energy in the stadium.”

You guys have the most sacks in the country over the last four weeks. How would you describe the challenge of bringing the pass rushers along? And how has that group improved and adapted this season?

“Each player usually has his own strengths and weaknesses. Some guys are more power rushers, some guys are more speed rushers and so forth. Kind of look at it like a pitcher. It’s hard to win with just one pitch, even if it’s a really good one, but at some point you need, you need something besides a fastball. You need a curveball, you need a change up, you need something. And I think that pass rushers, if you only have one thing, eventually they block that and then you got to be able to go to something else. So developing individual pass rush techniques for each player is important, to have a good two or three pitches that you can throw, and then being able to collectively work together on pass rush to understand that for the most part, it’s five-on-four, so they have an extra guy. So where’s the extra blocker? How do we attack that? Which way is he going? How are they doing it? And if it’s five-on-five with the offensive lineman, then how do you attack that differently than five-on-four?”

When you arrived here you said you’re not coming here to leave. But as soon as the New York Giants’ job came open your name got thrown out there. What is your message to players and recruits who may be asking about that?

“We’re getting ready for Wake Forest. That’s all I got this week.”

Has anyone asked you, or do players or recruits want to know about your future?

“I’ve been asked about it from time to time. But look, I’ve been down this road before. I’m focused on Wake Forest. That’s it, and that’s my commitment to this team. And next week, it’ll be our next opponent, and so forth. But I’m here to do the best I can for this team.”

How close is Thaddeus Dixon to coming back? Is he practicing this week?

“He’s day-to-day. He’s coming back, he’s closer today than he was yesterday. We’ll go out there and see how it goes. But if you’ve ever had an injury, you go out there and you do what you can do, and if everything feels good, then you move ahead to the next step. And if it doesn’t, then you step back and you give things a chance to settle down a little bit. And then you go back and do it again. So there’s no way of knowing what’s going to happen today, tomorrow, the next day or three days from now. So we just take it day-by-day, and if things are good today, then we ramp up tomorrow.”