CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — After a week of chaos surrounding the North Carolina football program and Bill Belichick's future in Chapel Hill, the six-time Super Bowl-winning coach denied rumors he was looking for an exit and doubled down on his belief that his «process» will eventually lead to a winning team.
«Reports about my looking for a buyout or trying to leave here is categorically false,» Belichick said. «There's zero truth to any of that. I'm glad I'm here. We're working toward our goals. We believe very much in the process. We need to just keep working and grinding away and that's exactly what we're doing.»
Belichick said there were «things we could've done better» but widely praised both embattled GM Michael Lombardi as having «done a good job,» reiterated that the timing of his hire put North Carolina behind other schools in terms of talent acquisition, and said that, regardless of the on-field results, UNC has made major strides in its performance.
«It's a learning curve,» Belichick said. «We're all in it together. But we're making a lot of progress and the process will eventually produce the results we want like they have everywhere else I've been.»
Belichick's Monday media session was attended by university chancellor Lee Roberts, athletics director Bubba Cunningham and a host of other high level administrators, as well as Lombardi — something unique for a midseason press conference.
Cunningham said the school continues to support Belichick's vision for the program, but he admitted the disappointing results have led to a lot of frustration.
«There's a steeper learning curve than we all anticipated,» Cunningham said. «The gap between expectations and performance is more severe than what we expected and that's what
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