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Heel Tough Blog: Statements Issued by Belichick and Cunningham Amidst Growing Speculation

Lance King- Getty Images
Lance King- Getty Images

After a day filled with reports and speculation on the job status of Bill Belichick, the head coach and athletic director Bubba Cunningham have issued statements to try and calm the masses.


“I’m fully committed to UNC Football program we are building here,” said Belichick. Cunningham issued a similar message saying “Coach Belichick has the full support of the Department of Athletics and the University”.


These statements were issued following reports earlier in the day from Andrew Jones of TarHeel247 about the “preliminary conversations” surrounding “potential exit strategy discussions” being had at the university on Wednesday morning. 


Jones reported that the university is trying to use possible NCAA violations from assistants, including last night’s report from Bruce Feldman of The Athletic on Armond Hawkins’ violation regarding sideline passes for Thaddeus Dixon’s family, as a way to fire Belichick with cause. According to Jones, this is not the only violation that the program is dealing with and that “there are many other violations that have occurred, many on the recruiting front”.


Later in the day, Ollie Connolly of Read Optional and Guardian US, who initially broke the news of Belichick’s interest in the job, reported that Belichick has “discussed buyout options with North Carolina’s hierarchy” and that he “has signalled a willingness to trigger his own $1 million buyout if he can find a soft landing with another team or in media”. According to Connolly’s report, members of the current Tar Heel staff are talking to other schools already and “the rats are leaving the ship”. Connolly also confirms that “multiple recruiting and practice violations have already been proven by the schools” and that investigations continue into other violations.


It’s hard to determine what exactly is going to happen, but if the allegations of multiple recruiting and practice violations are true, there is plenty of cause to fire him. The hope is that the university will actually do the right thing for the kids on this roster and pull the trigger on this much needed reset despite it being just five games into this experiment.

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