Bill Belichick isn’t going anywhere, yet.
The beleaguered North Carolina coach opened his press conference on Monday by responding to reports that he had begun to look for ways to leave the program amid a disastrous to his Tar Heel tenure.
“That’s just categorically false. There’s no truth to that. I’m glad I’m here,” Belichick said, according to The Athletic’s Brendan Marks.
A bye week in Chapel Hill turned ugly over a stream of reports over a program in chaos with the 73-year-old Belichick at the center of the issues.
Belichick said he is “100 percent” confident that the process is working, but admitted there has been a “learning curve” in his first year as a college coach after nearly five decades working in the NFL.
That included winning six Super Bowls as the Patriots coach and two more as a defensive coordinator for the Giants under Bills Parcells.
Belichick said that he expects to turn the program around and enjoy success “like everywhere else I’ve been.”
Aside from the results on the field — a 2-3 start with the three losses by a combined 87 points — Belichick has drawn extra attention to the program thanks to his relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson, who is a consistent gameday presence on the North Carolina sidelines.
“Everybody’s most interested in the final score, and I’m atop that list … You build a culture, you build a program, and eventually the results will come. Hopefully that’ll happen as soon as possible,” Belichick said, according to Marks.
During the slew of negative stories last week, Belichick released a brief statement reaffirming his commitment to the program.
He said he did so because some of the reports — which included details of a locker room fractured between holdover players and new Belichick additions — were “factually inaccurate.”
A separate report by 247Sports.com said that “potential exit strategy discussions” took place at North Carolina.
But for now Belichick and the Tar Heels will look to start turning their season when they face Cal on Saturday night in their second ACC game.
