For the first time since his introductory press conference, Bill Belichick met with the media on Wednesday following the Tar Heels second day of spring practice for the Tar Heels and talked about a multitude of different topics including his system, the transition to the college level and the reason behind no numbers on the jerseys here in the spring. Here are our biggest takeaways from what Belichick said on Wednesday evening.
Focus Is On Practicing Well, Not the Numbers or Names on The Jersey
Why no jersey numbers was the most polarizing question from the media on Wednesday and Belichick answered it with the response that we pretty much all expected. “That's just what we do. We go out there and we earn it, so the numbers and what color gloves you're wearing and all that's not as important as doing your job and being responsible and accountable to your teammates and being a good teammate. And so our focus is on the team, and we're just all out there, working, practicing, trying to get better. And it's the coaches, players, all of us. And so it's not all about the individual notoriety right now, instead of trying to put together a team. So we did that in New England.” This is a move that shows the culture shift that is already starting to happen in Chapel Hill and is an important part of the team building that this team has sorely needed over the last few years. While it may make evaluating tape a little bit more difficult, Belichick will take it if it means more focus on the team instead of the individual.
Max Johnson is Continuing to Progress
One of the other important questions when it came to the actual roster was about the status of graduate quarterback Max Johnson who is back working with the team after suffering a broken leg in the season opener last season against Minnesota. Belichick says that they are going to take their time with him and base what they do each day on what he is able to do that day. The day-by-day approach might be tedious, but it is the route that will be taken until he can show Belichick and the offensive staff that he is ready to return to the field and, you would imagine because of his experience, start competing to win the starting job again unless one of the young guys blows the staff away this spring.
Belichick Doesn’t Think That He Will Have to Treat Players Differently
Belichick was asked point blank if he felt like he was going to have to shift the way that he treats players here at the college level and he made it known quickly that he does not feel that he does. He said that it is still early, but that he can see that the players are responding already to what he and the staff are asking of them. He also said that he is excited to get the pads on, though, and see these guys compete, especially since that is where he witnessed a lot of growth last year in his time watching his son’s squad at Washington. It’s hard to believe that he is going to be as conservative as Mack Brown was when the pads are on, so that could be the biggest adjustment for the holdovers on this roster.
Evaluating Players is the Most Important Part of Spring Practice
When asked about how the staff is planning for practices here in the spring, Belchick pointed to evaluation of the roster as the most important part of what they are doing right now. “Most important thing for us right now is just to evaluate the players,” the legendary coach said on Wednesday. “Other than Freddie (Kitchens) being here last year, none of us really have any familiarity with the players, what they can do and what their skills are. We certainly might be able to take advantage of those, we want to put in the foundations and all the fundamentals that we'll use that will carry us through the year.” This mindset makes a lot of sense and means that there will be a lot of work to do in terms of learning the specific plays and intricacies of the systems in the fall when the team returns from the summer dead period.
Belichick Welcomes Former Players to Be Involved With the Program
One of the main things that Mack Brown had to do when he returned to Chapel Hill was reestablish the program’s connections with their former players after some neglect in this area from Larry Fedora towards the end of his tenure and Belichick seems like he wants to build off of what Brown was able to do. “We want all of our alumni to come back, both football players and non-football players, other people who are part of the program and supporters of the program. So we welcome all those people back. I'm sure you'll see a lot of former UNC players around here. Some are on the staff, Natrone (Means), for example. Some are on the staff, some are in other capacities in the organization or at the university, and some will be here visiting.” This is one area that Mack Brown took great care of in his time as the head coach and it’s good to see that Belichick values it, as well.