It’s been an interesting week for the now-complicated relationship between Bill Belichick and the Patriots organization.
On one hand, you had Patriots owner Robert Kraft seemingly extending an olive branch by telling WBZ’s Dan Roche that he plans to commission a Belichick statue to stand next to Tom Brady’s statue once Belichick retires from coaching.
On the other, you had tandem reports from The Athletic and The Boston Herald that Belichick has banned Patriots scouts from attending his University of North Carolina practices to scout Tar Heels players. The Athletic’s report notes that other NFL teams have been limited in their practice viewings – itself a point of frustration – but none were straight-up banned like New England has been.
The Greg Hill Show reacted to those reports Friday morning and said it was a new low in terms of pettiness from Belichick, and something that could further hurt his already-struggling UNC program.
“What happened yesterday just revealed the true pettiness of this guy,” Chris Curtis said as part of his “Lead.” (Listen to the full segment above.)
“He is, in some ways, imploding before our eyes, which is wild to me,” Greg Hill said. “And you know me, Curtis, I defended the guy every chance I could get around here. I don't understand if you're developing a program in college in which you're suggesting that the reason a player ought to come and play for you is you can help get them to the NFL, to ban the scouts of the New England Patriots, an NFL team, from being there to watch the kids play is an absolute dumb move.”
“It’s selfish and petty,” Curtis added.
“Recruiting, but also keeping kids there,” Courtney Cox said. “Imagine being a parent of somebody who just sent their kid to UNC because Bill Belichick promised that he was the best choice to get your kid to the next level? I mean, if it's true, it's a bad move.”
“Courtney, you're right,” Jermaine Wiggins said. “Because as a parent, that's got to be Bill’s number one recruiting tool is, ‘I can get you to the NFL because of the connections and the respect that NFL people have for me.’ But when you shut out a team, and so what if it's the Patriots, a team that maybe you left on rocky terms, you should still be welcoming those guys because you know it's going to help you with recruits. This is just not a good move by him.”