North Carolina Restricts Patriots Staff Access
The University of North Carolina, under the direction of new head coach Bill Belichick, has banned New England Patriots staff from accessing its American football program, according to sources close to the situation. Upon being contacted, North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi responded with a laconic “Good luck” before ending the call. The university did not provide additional comments to our request. Lombardi and Frantzy Jourdain, professional link for the Tar Heels, communicated to the Patriots the restriction a day before the scheduled visit of one of their scouts in August, according to a source with direct knowledge.Two NFL scouts confirmed that, under Belichick, North Carolina limits access to all league personnel. Teams can only communicate with Jourdain, and UNC’s university relations website states that “scouts will not have access to coaches or other staff,” according to the scouts.
The expression “zero access” appears repeatedly on the UNC university relations website, a page accessible only to NFL personnel. A scout indicated that NFL personnel can only witness three UNC training periods. Although access varies among college programs, scouts noted that many universities allow observation of full practices.
