Despite the chaos, Bill Belichick and UNC seem to be improving. Is it enough? - ESPN

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Amid a dizzying week of bad publicity in early October, Bill Belichick took to the dais to deliver a sermon to the nonbelievers.

No, he was not leaving North Carolina.

No, he was not making changes to his staff.

And yes, despite all evidence to the contrary after a 2-3 start and, most recently, a blowout loss to Clemson at home in which the stands at Kenan Stadium had emptied before halftime, this Tar Heels team was vastly improved.

«Our football team is a lot better than what it was at the end of spring ball, I can tell you that,» he said.

Trust the process, Belichick said, and whether anyone in the audience was convinced, his words seemed to resonate inside his own locker room.

North Carolina has lost two more games since then, but the first — a road trip to Cal — was by just three points, and the latest, against a ranked Virginia team, was decided by a failed 2-point try in overtime.

It certainly did seem like the progress Belichick promised — albeit in small steps.

«I was like, 'Where's this been?'» said an ACC analyst who was surprised by the improvement against Cal and Virginia. «They played exceptionally hard. They probably took a hard look at themselves and thought, 'This is an embarrassment on us. We're better players than this.'»

In the loss to Clemson, the analyst said he saw a lot of plays Carolina «gave up on» and «the effort was not there.» In the week that followed, reports emerged of a fight in the locker room and rumors spread that Belichick was looking for a way out. The school canceled a planned documentary on the season, and reports explained a lack of promotion of Heels alum Drake Maye as a result of Belichick's ban on anything related to his former employer, the New England