On paper, it would seem that there would be a strong connection between North Carolina football and the New England Patriots, with the old Patriots coach now being the Tar Heels' head coach and the old Tar Heels quarterback now being the Patriots' starter.

Bill Belichick, though, is not very fond of his former employer after an acrimonious split following the 2023 season, which ended about a quarter of a century-long relationship. Even after Belichick landed in Chapel Hill earlier this year and embarked on a career in college football for the first time, he has made it clear that he wants nothing to do with the Patriots; in a highly unpopular move, he banned the NFL team's scouts from the UNC facilities.

Still, it would seem a little too petty if the Tar Heels social media team didn't post clips of their former star quarterback just because he played for the Patriots, right? Well, that was exactly what happened last night.

Despite Maye leading the Patriots to a stunning upset against the previously undefeated Buffalo Bills, the UNC account on X, formerly Twitter, did not post anything Maye-related, but it did post about former Heel Javonte Williams twice when he scored earlier in the day for the Dallas Cowboys. This, according to 247Sports' Ross Martin, was Belichick's call.

“According to sources inside the UNC football program, it is a directive from the staff (Bill Belichick) to not tweet/retweet anything Patriots-related,” Martin posted. In a reply to a different post, Martin said it was a “new directive,” and the social media team was “told to stop” posting about Maye after doing so earlier in the season.

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Something may have changed this morning, however, as the @UNCFootball account, nearly 12 hours after the game, posted a clip of Maye from the game, interspliced with a highlight from his time at North Carolina: “.@DrakeMaye2 pulling off some magic, where have we seen this before.”

As expected, the post drew attention for its tardiness.

Whether North Carolina will get rid of or tweak its policy, which would almost certainly garner support for the Patriots in this feud, remains to be seen.