With questions about the future of the partnership running rampant, Bill Belichick and North Carolina footballreleased statements on Wednesday, Oct. 8, about the Hall of Fame coach’s future with the program.
In the statement, Belichick and the Tar Heels’ athletic director Bubba Cunningham expressed their confidence in the direction of the program.
ESPN college football pundit Paul Finebaum is not buying anything UNC is selling on Belichick’s future.
“I felt those statements were completely and utterly bogus. If you’re going to make a declarative statement, make it, don’t just issue a meaningless piece of paper, which is what Belichick did,’ Finebaum said on ‘Get Up’. ‘It feels like it is over. I feel like his behavior is indicative of that. Not to make too much out of it, but he basically took a week off during the bye week, and he’s entitled to have his own private life, we’ve said that repeatedly here, but I’ve never heard of a coach in big-time college football to do something like that.
‘Maybe take an afternoon off during the bye week, but not go on vacation. So to me, he has checked out. The play on the field has checked out. His coaching has been abysmal. And I think Bill Belichick would be wise to walk out now before the humiliation gets any worse.”
Belichick was reportedly spotted vacationing with 24-year-old girlfriend Jordon Hudson in Nantucket, Massachusetts, during the UNC bye week, ahead of their Tar Heels ACC opener against Clemson.
The results have not gone as planned, with UNC falling to 2-3 following an embarrassing 38-10 loss to Clemson on Saturday, Oct. 4. The Tigers held a 28-3 after one quarter. In their three losses, the Tar Heels have been outscored 120-33 by TCU, UCF and Clemson. Their only wins are against Charlotte and Richmond.
Host Mike Greenberg asked Finebaum if Belichick’s run with UNC would impact his legacy as the arguably ‘greatest coach of all-time.’
‘Greeny, only if it’s prolonged and he continues to be embarrassed on a weekly basis,’ Finebaum said. ‘I think if he walks out now, everybody just shakes their hands and says, ‘OK, we tried, couldn’t get an NFL job… There’s only one way out for him, and I think it’s an easy way out and I know he doesn’t like taking the easy way out, but right now, if he walked out, I think he would save face more than continuing to fight and embarrass himself and really begin to tarnish his legacy.”
Finebaum’s comments come one day after Belichick and Cunningham issued statements on Belichick’s future with the program was called into question on social media following a flurry of reports.
‘I’m fully committed to UNC Football and the program we’re building here,’ Belichick said in a post from North Carolina on X, formerly known as Twitter.
Cunningham added: ‘Coach Belichick has the full support of the Department of Athletics and the University.’
UNC is on its second bye this week, but will travel to Cal on Oct. 17 for its ACC road opener. With seven games left on the schedule, the controversy around the program and the coach could continue throughout the season.