- 6 months ago
"It feels like it might be untenable" Pat Welter from WRAL-TV joins!
"My only thing was that people were telling me these things, and I got enough of it, journalistically, that I could report it"
Coco: "Do you think Bill doesn't survive the year?"
"My only thing was that people were telling me these things, and I got enough of it, journalistically, that I could report it"
Coco: "Do you think Bill doesn't survive the year?"
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00:00Did I get that right, Pat?
00:02Yes, good morning.
00:03Good morning.
00:03Yeah, from WRAL and from Londonderry, New Hampshire.
00:06So happy to be on with you guys in Boston.
00:08Really appreciate you jumping on.
00:09I know it's a busy morning down there.
00:11What can you tell us about the latest here with North Carolina and Bill Belichick?
00:17Yeah, I just woke up and I just can't escape the story, as you can imagine.
00:24We kind of tied a bow on everything last night.
00:27I was in Charlotte, ACC media days for basketball.
00:30Where I only talked about Belichick the entire time and basketball, almost zero.
00:35And we had all our reports turned in for the night.
00:37And then a statement comes out around 10 o'clock that Bill Belichick is fully committed to the program that he's building at UNC.
00:45And Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham, representing the other life department, says they are fully committed to him.
00:52So this is now their chance to respond.
00:55And I think it's clearly going to be a choreographed response here to cool the waters.
01:04You know, I've received next to no pushback since our story broke on Monday about the details in the story.
01:12We've seen national reporters dig in as well and essentially find similar or the same anecdotes and issues that I had found after my reporting, which dates back essentially to Belichick being hired.
01:25So, yeah, it's a new chapter.
01:29This is new territory for me.
01:31You know, I'm one guy here at a local TV station taking on arguably the greatest coach of all time.
01:38When I say take on, I don't have an agenda.
01:40My only thing was that people were telling me these things and I got enough of it journalistically that I could report it.
01:46And that's what I did.
01:48And I'm going to continue to do that.
01:50Pat, when it comes to the reports that he was going to be fired or let go or they were going to part ways, a buyout, however you want to phrase it, before the game against Cal, obviously a bye week this week, then Cal.
02:01But after releasing that statement, in my mind, there's no way UNC can now release that and say, wait, no, we actually are going to part ways.
02:08Do you think that this is now going to move to maybe an end of the season thing or do you think Bill doesn't survive the year?
02:13Yeah, so I got to do a couple of things, right?
02:17Like there's what I think and then hopefully there's later today what I know because I want to reach out to the UNC side internally because it's been a little bit dark there recently.
02:30You know, I did have some extensive conversations right before we published to make clear what was coming out.
02:36And again, like I wasn't receiving pushback and I got a stance then from athletics that they looked at it like, okay, this, yeah, things are not going well.
02:47They understood kind of where I was coming from on reporting.
02:51But from their standpoint, it's like, well, we made this huge investment.
02:54Yes, things clearly are not going well on the field.
02:58You can't deny that.
02:59And they acknowledged like, well, we hired this guy from the NFL, didn't have college experience.
03:06Let's try to support him.
03:07We're five games in.
03:09I think based on my reporting and others, it feels like it might be untenable when you're talking about not even being competitive, not competitive.
03:19Like they hired him to take the next step.
03:23You know, Matt Brown had this team bowl eligible every year, basically competing near the top of the ACC at times, putting Drake May into the NFL now with the New England Patriots.
03:33And now they are statistically one of the like 10 worst teams in FBS, not just the ACC, all of college football.
03:41So, I mean, again, like, what is my reporting doing?
03:45It's shedding a light on how and why that's possible.
03:49So, you know, to wake up today and act like everything's okay, I mean, it's clearly not.
03:53But I understand the standpoint of, all right, let's take a breath here.
03:58Let's regather.
03:59We're not going to fire him five games in.
04:01Let's see if we can support this and fix this and kind of reset the track here.
04:06Pat, there's a lot of stuff going on with violations.
04:10Do you know, like, details to what and how serious those violations could be?
04:17Or is it just like, you know, the sideline passes type of situation?
04:21Has there been any talk about, like, the seriousness of some of the NCAA violations that they could be facing?
04:29Yeah.
04:30I mean, we broke the one about the tickets.
04:35And players were selling their tickets.
04:37And then the athletic connected that to an assistant coach that was improperly giving out tickets.
04:47And I have, like, the exact anecdote of what that coach did.
04:52But I didn't have it firmed up enough to report the specifics.
04:56But, you know, for another example, like, when I got a tip in the spring that things were not going well, I put in a lot of public records requests.
05:07And one of those was NCAA violations.
05:09And I got one back.
05:12And I never reported it because it was so minor that it seemed kind of silly.
05:17In hindsight, maybe it wasn't, right?
05:21And clearly, there's probably – well, I don't want to say clearly.
05:25I mean, there seems, like, reasonable to think that maybe there are more.
05:29And I think others have reported that effect.
05:32So how serious do they rise to?
05:35We're going to find out, right?
05:36Because you can get that information.
05:38It's a public record.
05:39You just have to get it.
05:41So they're going to have to reveal that.
05:43And I've put in – I've got a record request in my email.
05:46I haven't even opened yet.
05:48Like, this has been such a whirlwind.
05:52So it's happening all in real time.
05:54So this is going to be kind of a crucial pivot day as they push back and reporters continue to dig, myself included.
06:01Hey, Pat.
06:02This is the Greg Hill Show.
06:04He's not in today, but he sent us a story that he had heard from someone that was an AD that there was a physical altercation in the football locker room this week.
06:14Can you shed any light on that?
06:16Have you heard that at all?
06:18No.
06:18I mean, I would say I broke that, right?
06:20Like, I reported that yesterday from multiple sources in the locker room.
06:26So, yeah.
06:26What was the physical altercation and who was it with?
06:29I can't say.
06:32Like, that's one of those things.
06:34Like, with naming names.
06:35And I hesitate to name players' names in this unless I've, like, directly talked to that player.
06:42I did reach out to a representative for one of the players that I was told was involved.
06:48They didn't comment.
06:49Because this isn't really – these are kids, right?
06:52Like, when you're covering college, it's a little bit different than the NFL as far as, like, the standards.
06:58You hold them to.
06:59So, unless there's a reason to release the name, then I'm not going to do that.
07:04But it's –
07:07Well, was it with players or with coaches?
07:09So, was it player on player or player on coach?
07:11It was a player altercation.
07:14Oh, okay.
07:15Pat, when it comes to the report that there was a player that got hurt and then maybe got his keys taken away
07:21and they said, go rehab at home and we'll see you next year, can you confirm anything about that?
07:27Yeah.
07:28I mean, there's so many anecdotes and details out there right now.
07:31Like, I have not heard that specific one.
07:33But it does align with kind of the way I've heard that Michael Lombardi treats people within the organization
07:42and just kind of really a cutthroat approach to NIL valuations, almost an avoidance from talking to people about it.
07:56But, you know, I had the report in there about the Purdue quarterback that came in
08:01and the conflict with the Rose there with him after the spring.
08:06You know, there's – I have multiple sources talking about, you know, Max Johnson's NIL situation,
08:13which was a little complicated given he was coming off a season-ending injury
08:16and then he wasn't getting paid this season and then now is playing.
08:23So that's probably an ongoing situation there.
08:26So there's a lot.
08:28It's – you know, what did I report?
08:30I reported it's a mess because that's what people are telling me.
08:34I think that they underestimated, you know, the undertaking that this was.
08:39There was a degree, I would say, of arrogance and hubris in the approach.
08:46And, I mean, how can you not be humbled by the results that they put on the field?
08:50Like, all of this is fine if you win, right?
08:53I mean, obviously you've got to treat people with human dignity.
08:55And to a certain extent, that appears to have not occurred.
08:59But, I mean, you know, winning cures a lot and they have not won.
09:02They have not even been competitive.
09:04And that's where you have people being so upset.
09:06Like, are you going to treat people like this?
09:07Because it can't be these kind of results.
09:11You know, like, in a way, that's like the thesis of it all.
09:14Go ahead, Courtney.
09:15I just think this story is so interesting because not only is it Bill Belichick,
09:19so all eyes are on him across the country because he's the greatest coach of all time.
09:24But then you take into account that UNC and the ACC as a conference have such strong connections.
09:31I worked for the conference when John Swarford was the commissioner.
09:36And his UNC ties run pretty deep.
09:39I just think that if you are the ACC right now, you have to be really worried about all
09:43of the reports that are coming out when it comes to one of your biggest schools and their
09:47head football coach.
09:49Yeah, that's an interesting perspective.
09:52You know, we were just at ACC media days for basketball, right?
09:56She has some of the conference, you know, movers and shakers there, the commissioner among
10:01them.
10:01And my colleague, Brian Murphy, who's helped with a lot of this reporting as well, he had
10:07a couple minutes to the side with Phillips.
10:11And, you know, it wasn't entirely on – it hadn't really broken through to him at that
10:17time.
10:18And I'm sure probably has now.
10:21So, yeah, it's interesting.
10:23Like, it's like they won the offseason, talking about UNC, they have lost the regular season.
10:30So, mission accomplished as far as, like, getting the ACC and UNC, national exposure.
10:37But then with that exposure has come being completely exposed as, you know, they have not delivered
10:45on – you know, they wanted to be the 33rd NFL team.
10:48I mean, they have made themselves one of the worst teams in college football, and that's
10:52not just me saying that.
10:53That's a statistical fact.
10:56So, yeah.
10:57If this ends, Pat, how does it end?
10:58Does it – they mutually agree to, you know, separate and without buyouts, or does this get
11:03ugly between now and then?
11:05Well, we have to rule the possibility that it's sports, and we don't know what's going
11:10to happen next, and that they could turn things around, that they could rally around
11:14this, that, you know, that this – I have to acknowledge a world where, okay, then maybe
11:20– maybe he really just needs to have a – he got 70 new players, maybe he needs 105 new
11:25players to get the culture right.
11:27You know what I mean?
11:28Anything is possible in the world of sports, I certainly would not bet on it.
11:32So, I think right now, when you have UNC coming out in support of him, what they're
11:36trying to do is likely pump the brakes a little bit, let's pause, let's take a deep
11:41breath, we've had a few days to kind of look into these reports and what we're hearing,
11:45we suspended a coach, you know, we're trying to fix it, it's five games in, we made a massive
11:52investment, it's going to take another $20 million to get out of it if that's what we
11:56want to do, so let's see if we can help support him.
11:59And that's what I heard from the beginning when I told members, you know, inside the
12:04athletic department that I was going to publish this, was that they – their standpoint
12:07was like, well, we want to try to help them, like we knew this was an undertaking, so let's
12:12try to fix it.
12:14Well, Pat, continued good luck there with the reporting, and man, keep us posted if
12:19anything changes, we appreciate you carving out some time for us, I know you're busy
12:22down there.
12:23No, thank you, yeah, it's – today's going to be a different tenor, so this is going
12:28to be interesting, so yeah, I've got to start making some calls and see what we can find
12:31out.
12:31All right, Pat Welter, Londonderry, New Hampshire native down at WRAL in Chapel Hill with the
12:36latest on the Belichick and the North Carolina stuff, so man.
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