Belichick: Up to UNC players to buy into product

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Bill Belichick has seen North Carolina run through just two practices this spring — players in shorts and jerseys without names or numbers — so he’s not making any grand pronouncements about the caliber of team he has to work with.

The one thing he feels confident in, however, is the Tar Heels will be built his way and without compromise.

“I don’t really have any expectations,” Belichick said. “It’s going to be up to each individual. I know we’ve got a good plan, I know we can do the right things to put a good product on the field. Everybody that buys into it and wants to be a part of it, will be a part of it. And if they don’t, they can go somewhere else. That’s their decision.”

Belichick said he’s been encouraged by the team’s progress since he arrived, though he said the early days of spring practice haven’t offered much insight.

Unlike his time in the NFL, however, he said he expects to use the spring as an opportunity to develop players through contact and physicality — particularly in the run game and along the line of scrimmage, something that was difficult to do during minicamps and OTAs in the pros.

“We didn’t have pads to do things like that,” Belichick said. “Contact is very limited in the NFL in the spring. There really isn’t any.”

One group that won’t see much contact is the quarterbacks. UNC’s depth chart at the position is thin, with Purdue transfer Ryan Browne and true freshman Bryce Baker. Last year’s Week 1 starter, Max Johnson, remains as well, but he’s recovering from a broken leg suffered in the opener.

Belichick said Johnson is “getting better,” and UNC is adjusting his workload each day based on how he responds to the previous day’s efforts.

Beyond that, Belichick said the first few practices at UNC have been as much an onboarding for players as a chance for the staff to evaluate what they have.

“We’re starting to put everything together — here’s how we do things, here’s what our expectations are, this is what you need to do to be successful,” Belichick said. “They’ve embraced that and tried to do it. We haven’t accomplished anything but we’re a lot further along than we were five weeks ago. We’re getting there.”

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