North Carolina football coach Bill Belichick is about as connected to the NFL as any college football coach ever has been, but he has made it clear that one NFL team will not be welcome in Chapel Hill.
In what was officially classified as a mutual decision, Belichick departed the New England Patriots in January 2024. There was speculation at the time that the decision was not so mutual, and that assumption has only been supported by reports since that Belichick was, in fact, pushed out of the organization after nearly a quarter of a century as the Patriots' head coach and de facto general manager by team owner Robert Kraft.
Kraft reportedly also may have played a factor in Belichick's unsuccessful search for another NFL head coaching job that winter, and Belichick seemingly hasn't patched things up with his old employer.
Before North Carolina's second game under Belichick, a former NFL scout claimed, and subsequent reports emerged, that the Tar Heels were open to all scouts coming into their facilities except the Patriots.
Belichick did not hesitate to confirm the ban and explain why.
“It's clear that I'm not welcome there around their facility. So they're not welcome at ours. It’s pretty simple,” Belichick said after his first win as UNC's head coach on Saturday.
Bill Belichick on banning #Patriots scouts: "It's clear I'm not welcome there at their facility. So they're not welcome at ours. It’s pretty simple.”
(via Tar Heel Tribune / YT)
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) September 7, 2025
The ban, as well as the reported limiting of access of scouts to one person at North Carolina, has, as expected, not endeared Belichick to scouts, even those not affiliated with New England, according to Sports Illustrated's Albert Breer.
“Here's what one AFC scouting director said to me in regards to this. He said, ‘Nobody is mad about UNC being a crappy visit. They don't have players, they aren't talented. The only people who are going to suffer are the UNC seniors who may be late-round guys or undrafted free agents. When we don't have ample background on guys and they are late-round/UDFA types, we just move on to the next guy with a similar skill set that we know more about,'” Breer reported on Sunday's ‘Patriots Pregame Live'.
The 73-year-old Belichick, who has been the subject of intense scrutiny and criticism for the nature of his relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, is now 1-1 at North Carolina after defeating Charlotte 20-3 on Saturday. The Tar Heels were previously shellacked by TCU 48-14 in Belichick's debut.
