Moments after earning his first win as a collegiate coach on Saturday night, UNC coach Bill Belichick was asked about his reported decision to ban Patriots scouts from Tar Heels practices and games.
The Patriots former coach, whose Tar Heels beat Charlotte 20-3 to put UNC at 1-1 on the season, did not deny reports about the ban in his post-game press conference.
“It’s clear that I’m not welcome there, around their facilities,” Belichick said, via the Charlotte News & Observer, “and they aren’t welcome at ours. Pretty simple.”
Belichick’s feud with Patriots owner Robert Kraft appears the impetus for the actions of the six-time Super Bowl winning coach.
Interestingly, Kraft was interviewed by WBZ-TV during the week, and talked about commissioning a statue of Belichick, and putting it next to the recently unveiled statue of Tom Brady.
Patriots coach Mike Vrabel, meanwhile, was asked about the ban on Friday. He said it was an “individual choice,” basically pitting it on Belichick.
It’s common practice for colleges to allow NFL scouts to attend practices to watch players for draft evaluation purposes.
The Patriots play their home opener Sunday against the Las Vegas Raiders. Vrabel said that’s where his focus was.
“We’re going to focus on our football team. I think that’s their prerogative to make the decisions they feel like are best for them,” he said. “I think we’ll have to find other ways to get the information for any players we want to look at, at North Carolina.”
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