The Patriot Way isn’t the North Carolina way.
Ex-New England star Asante Samuel scolded former coach Bill Belichick for being a “hypocrite,” noting how the old Patriots version of the legendary coach would never have approved the new North Carolina edition whose relationship with 24-year-old Jordon Hudson is a national storyline.
“Ultimately, coach is being a hypocrite. He’s being a hypocrite, the way he’s carrying on. He told us to stay off the media and don’t have family distractions and things like that,” Samuel told TMZ Sports.
“Coach has all this stuff going on? Coach, where did this come from? Why wasn’t we able to enjoy ourselves like this now that you want to enjoy yourself, know what I’m saying.”
Samuel isn’t the first player and surely won’t be the last — especially if the Tar Heels don’t become a consistent winner under Belichick — to note the stark contrast in the coach’s approach.
In Foxborough, Belichick operated within The Patriot Way with the simple yet effective message of: Do your job. They did not welcome distractions in their pursuits of championships and it worked.
Belichick, 73, and Tom Brady guided the franchise to six titles. Samuel played under Belichick for five seasons from 2003-07, winning two Super Bowls before leaving for the Eagles in free agency.
In Chapel Hill, well, those same guidelines are not being followed.
Belichick and Hudson’s relationship is a constant talking point, with the pair being featured on the cover of Us Magazine and Hudson offering a behind-the-scenes look at their life on social media.
Samuel has been a noted critic of Belichick’s in the past and there appears to still be some bad blood, although he hopes his coach is happy.
“Coach is setting the standards out here for us. He set the standard for us men. Everybody that looked up to coach Belichick and believed in the Belichick way, this is the Belichick way, man, he set the standard,” Samuel told TMZ. “Ultimately, I just believe be happy in life. End of the day you have to be happy and whatever that looks like, be happy, find happiness. If it’s going to be a little embarrassing and you don’t mind, other person doesn’t mind, ya’ll are happy together and it’s authentic, go with it, just be happy.”
Belichick has more reasons to smile lately since the Tar Heels are finally playing well after a tough start to his tenure.
The Tar Heels have won two straight following four straight losses to improve to 4-5, and came one play away from grabbing wins in their two previous games.
North Carolina visits Wake Forest on Saturday.
“He’s going to go through growing pains, and, man, he’s been in the NFL so long, adjusting to coaching kids and younger athletes with a new NIL era and things like that, it might take a little while for him to adjust to the system,” Samuel said. “Obviously he has to grow out of his ways, the old ways that he used to do things, definitely is not going to work. The cat’s out of the bag, no one is going for that anymore, that has been exposed. I think with him trying to change a little bit, be more open and things like that.”
It seems Belichick is going to coach at the collegiate level for the foreseeable future instead of eyeing an NFL return since the issued a statement Friday night claiming he would not pursue the Giants’ opening.
There have long been rumors about a possible Giants-Belichick union due to his admiration for the franchise dating to his days coaching under Bill Parcells.
“I have great respect and genuinely care for the New York Giants organization and both the Mara and Tisch families,” Belichick said in his statement.
“The New York Giants played an important role in my life and in my coaching journey. It was a privilege for me to work for the Mara family and be a member of Coach Parcells’ staff for over a decade. However, despite circulating rumors, I have not and will not pursue any NFL head coaching vacancies.”
