09/07/26 04:15:00
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09/07 15:39 CDT Amid another distraction, UNC's Belichick says program focused
on 'doing things properly'
Amid another distraction, UNC's Belichick says program focused on 'doing things
properly'
By AARON BEARD
AP Sports Writer
CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (AP) --- North Carolina coach Bill Belichick said Monday he
believes his program "totally" has an atmosphere of following rules amid a
school investigation into conduct within his football program.
"Obviously everybody's responsible, including me, for doing things properly,"
Belichick said. "And we intend to do that."
Later Monday, a school spokesman issued a statement backing the 74-year-old
Belichick, who won six Super Bowl titles with the NFL's New England Patriots.
"The University continues to support Bill Belichick and the Carolina football
program," said Dean Stoyer, UNC's vice chancellor for communications.
The Tar Heels were off following their season-opening win against TCU in
Ireland on Aug. 29. But during that open week, general manager Michael Lombardi
resigned after being put on paid administrative leave in late July amid an
investigation by UNC's Office of University Counsel.
The same day, WRAL of Raleigh cited anonymous sources in reporting the type of
questions asked of some interviewees. Some focused on Belichick's son Steve,
the Tar Heels' defensive coordinator currently on medical leave.
Additionally, Lombardi attorney Tom Mars told The Athletic that the school's
probe now included questions into potential "inappropriate" relationships that
didn't involve his client. Mars hasn't returned a call or email from The
Associated Press regarding that comment.
Two people with knowledge of the situation had previously told the AP that a
human resources complaint from a former employee was tied to Lombardi
originally being placed on leave as the investigation launched. They spoke at
the time on condition of anonymity because the school wasn't publicly
discussing case details, with UNC saying employees and athletes weren't
permitted to discuss the topic "as is standard procedure with personnel
matters."
Those developments have only added to a year's worth of unwanted headlines off
the field to go with shaky play on it under Belichick.
By Monday, reporters spent roughly the first 13 minutes of Belichick's
20-minute game week news conference asking questions that had nothing to do
with Saturday's upcoming home debut against East Tennessee State.
That included whether his program had an atmosphere of rule compliance and if
Belichick had "control" over the program.
"If you're around here every day, I think you'd see it," Belichick said.
Belichick was also asked whether he had spoken to chancellor Lee Roberts and
athletic director Steve Newmark about his job security. He responded by looking
ahead to the ETSU game, though he later elaborated more on his relationship
with school officials when asked whether they had asked him to change anything
in running the program.
"They've been very supportive, a great working relationship with those people,"
he said. "In the end, look, we want to run the program in the very best way.
And if there's things we need to do to correct it, then we'll obviously do
them."
The Tar Heels tallied more losses by double-digit margins (five) than wins
(four) in Belichick's debut season, along with distractions such as an
assistant coach being briefly suspended for violating NCAA rules. Belichick
said in July he had hoped lessons learned would lead to more success in Year 2.
The Tar Heels got that with the 15-10 win against TCU after losing to the
Horned Frogs by 34 in Belichick's UNC debut. But the past week take some glow
off that victory.
"We're so focused on everything internal and getting better on the field and
getting better in the meeting room that we could care less about what we see in
the headlines or what's on the news," running back Benjamin Hall said. "It's
not going to affect this team."
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