CHEL HILL, N.C. — 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.
Two people with knowledge of the situation had previously told the that a human resources complaint from a former employee was tied to Lombardi originally being placed on leave as the investigation launched. “And we intend to do that. Mars hasn’t returned a call or email from The Associated Press regarding that comment.
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.
“Obviously everybody’s responsible, including me, for doing things properly,” Belichick said. “The University continues to support Bill Belichick and the Carolina football program,” said Dean Stoyer, UNC’s vice chancellor for communications. 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. 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.”
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.
“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.”
