Bill Belichick promised to bring an NFL mindset to running the North Carolina football program, and that apparently includes trying to wall off all outsiders — even NFL scouts.
According to reports by ESPN’s Kalyn Kaher and 3&Out’s John Middlekauff, North Carolina banned Patriots scouts from having access to the program and has an extremely strict policy for scouts from the other 31 NFL teams.
“[UNC general manager Michael] Lombardi and Tar Heels pro liason Frantzy Jourdain informed the Patriots that they would be banned from UNC the day before one of their scouts was scheduled to visit in August, a source with direct knowledge told ESPN.”
CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz confirmed the banning of Patriots scouts by Belichick.
Belichick’s disdain towards the Patriots’ organization after his acrimonious departure from the organization more than a year ago seemingly hasn’t lessened since taking the UNC job, and it appears he’s taking that out on them in whatever way he can in his new role. Per Kaher, scouts from other teams are limited to watching just three sessions of UNC practice, rather than the full practice period, and are not allowed to speak with coaches or staffers beyond Jourdain.
None of this is surprising given what we know about Belichick and how he runs an organization, but the problem is, you do your players a disservice by limiting access to NFL scouting personnel. Preventing an NFL team’s scouts from seeing your players only hurts your players’ chances of making it at the next level, while limiting all scouts access makes it difficult for them to develop strong connections or get the kind of information they want, including positive info that might help a kid get drafted higher.
Given North Carolina got blasted in a standalone, national primetime game by TCU on Monday night to open the Belichick era with a thud, it might help his players if scouts could see more of practice, because the game tape so far is not good for most anyone on the UNC roster.
Belichick’s program was already under the microscope, but the pressure ratcheted up after the performance against TCU. These kinds of reports won’t help Belichick’s cause, as it’s hard to imagine top recruits will hear about NFL scouts having limited access to seeing them as a positive thing.
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