logo
Bill Belichick says he's 'still learning''everyday at college level

Bill Belichick says he's 'still learning''everyday at college level

USA Today17-05-2025
Bill Belichick says he's 'still learning''everyday at college level Bill Belichick spent his morning on a popular talk show, where he spoke about coaching college football.
Coaching at a new level of football is a challenge for anyone, even Bill Belichick, an 8-time Super Bowl Champion between his time with the New York Giants and New England Patriots.
The North Carolina Tar Heels made offseason headlines in December 2024, when they hired Belichick to be their next head football coach. While Belichick hasn't coached at the college level before, UNC fans hope his NFL success will turn UNC into a consistent winning program.
Belichick is already generating national media attention, the kind North Carolina football hasn't experienced before.
On Friday morning, Belichick's media tour continued on Good Morning America with Michael Strahan: a 7-time Pro Bowler, the 2001 NFL Defensive Player of the Year and Super Bowl XLII Champion, which he won against Belichick's Patriots.
"I've learned so much being back in the college environment, whether it be recruiting, the college game, the rules, the hashmarks, some strategy and putting a team together," Belichick told Strahan. "I learn every day."
Strahan also asked Belichick about his much-younger girlfriend, Jordon Hudson. Unlike the ACC Spring Meetings on Tuesday, where Belichick didn't want to talk about Jordon, he praised Jordon for her help.
"She's been terrific through the whole process, and she's been very helpful to me," Belichick said. "She does the business things that don't relate to North Carolina that come up in my life, so I can concentrate on football, and that's really what I want to do. I acknowledged her in the book. She was very helpful on that with the tribute pages and also giving a perspective of the book from kind of a business side. Sometimes I get a little football technical, and she did a good job of keeping me on balance there."
There's plenty of anticipation building for the Tar Heels' 2025 season, which begins Monday, September 1 against the TCU Horned Frogs. Kickoff time was initially announced for 7:30 p.m., but got pushed back 30 minutes.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
Orange background

Try Our AI Features

Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:

Comments

No comments yet...

Related Articles

Projected 2025 UNC football starter named to prestigious award Watch List
Projected 2025 UNC football starter named to prestigious award Watch List

USA Today

time23 minutes ago

  • USA Today

Projected 2025 UNC football starter named to prestigious award Watch List

How much of an impact will UNC's ground game make this fall? Dominating the Backfield 💨Our guys making noise on the Doak Walker Award Watch List - honoring the nation's most outstanding collegiate running back. The North Carolina Tar Heels are known, in the past decade, for producing NFL-caliber running backs. That continued in 2024 with Omarion Hampton, whom the Los Angeles Chargers took 22nd overall in April's NFL Draft. With Hampton no longer in Chapel Hill, the question is: who starts at running back for UNC in 2025? If you aren't familiar with the name Davion Gause, you might want to start paying attention. Gause, who played most of his 2024 freshman campaign as Hampton's backup, recently earned a nomination to the Doak Walker Award Watch List. The Doak Walker Award is annually presented to college football's best running back. If Gause is getting this type of recognition, with the 2024 Fenway Bowl being his only collegiate start, expectations are extremely high for the second-year back from Florida. Gause broke onto the scene during North Carolina's 38-20 victory over Charlotte last year, recording 105 rushing yards and his first collegiate touchdown, in just his second-ever college football game. Hampton left that victory at halftime, due to a previously unknown injury, giving the Opa-Locka native his chance to shine. A week later, Gause scored his second touchdown during the Tar Heels' 45-10 thumping of NC Central. Gause didn't score against until November 23 against Boston College, scoring twice in UNC's 41-21 defeat, but proved himself as a reliable scoring threat. Joining Gause in North Carolina's running back room are senior Caleb Hood, Michigan transfer Benjamin Hall, redshirt sophomore returner Charleston French and freshman Demon June. If Gause can separate himself early, he'll be another bell cow back for the Tar Heels. Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.

Deion Sanders and his coaching staff at Colorado boast a combined 160 years of NFL experience
Deion Sanders and his coaching staff at Colorado boast a combined 160 years of NFL experience

NBC Sports

timean hour ago

  • NBC Sports

Deion Sanders and his coaching staff at Colorado boast a combined 160 years of NFL experience

BOULDER, Colo. (AP) — Warren Sapp strictly enforces Colorado players being in straight lines while stretching at practice. Marshall Faulk harps over and over on proper footwork. These two Hall of Fame players turned coaches are sticklers for the little things. That's on orders from the third member of their gold-coat club: Deion Sanders. Sapp and Faulk are part of a Buffaloes coaching staff that boasts 160 years of total NFL experience (playing, coaching or covering). The crew runs a no-nonsense, tight-knit operation, which came in handy when Sanders was away and fighting bladder cancer. The coaching staff keeps reaffirming what Sanders always stresses — paying attention to the details. 'It's the little things that will make us great,' explained Sapp, who is the defensive pass-rush specialist for the Buffaloes this season. 'It's the tedious repetition of the little things, over and over and over again. That's what we do. 'He (Sanders) has so much other things on his plate. I figured I'd handle the little things. ... We really don't ask much of them, except, let's go to work and that's what we're going to do.' In addition to Sapp and Faulk, the list of coaches that Sanders has assembled with NFL experience includes offensive coordinator Pat Shurmur, defensive coordinator Robert Livingston, receivers coach Jason Phillips, defensive passing game coordinator/cornerbacks coach Kevin Mathis, defensive line coach Domata Peko, and offensive line coaches George Hegamin and Andre Gurode. Combined — and, of course, counting Sanders — that's 27 Pro Bowls, five Super Bowl titles, an NFL MVP (Faulk), three Pro Football Hall of Famers (Sanders, Faulk, Sapp), two NFL defensive player of the year honors (Sapp, Sanders) and an NFL offensive player of the year recipient (Faulk, three times). 'When you have a whole bunch of guys that's been there and done that, and played in the league, it's definitely a blessing for us,' Peko said. 'Everyone kind of checks their egos at the door, and we all just try to collaborate together.' The Buffaloes may be adding more experience, too. Sanders said at Big 12 media day last month he's trying to bring in ex-NFL QB Byron Leftwich and former Vikings head coach Mike Zimmer to the staff. 'With those two added, that's 204 years of NFL experience,' Sanders said, 'and I want those years.' Faulk and Sapp were both in Canton, Ohio, last weekend for the Hall of Fame induction ceremony. There, they hung out with the greats of the game, with Sapp recording personal video messages from past players to show his impressionable Buffaloes. 'I just soak it up from them, and I bring it back to the babies, because just hearing it from me, they hear me all the time,' said Sapp, who had 96 1/2 sacks over his 13-year-career. 'But when John Randle was on (the video), and I can see their eyes pop up I got a whole new message. ... I'm going to give them everything I got.' For Faulk, being in Canton just reaffirmed his passion for football — and coaching. 'I literally sold popcorn in the Superdome because I couldn't afford a ticket to watch the sorriest team in the '80s — the Saints,' cracked Faulk, whose Buffaloes open the season Aug. 29 by hosting Georgia Tech. 'I just love football and to be around the guys (in Canton) who gave me the opportunity to play this game and left the game in my hands, there's nothing like it. 'But it was the first time I'd been there and wanted to be somewhere else.' Namely, working with his fleet of running backs. Sophomore Micah Welch was in the lunch room when he heard about the hiring of Faulk in February. Welch went home that night and pulled up some highlight footage. 'It was amazing,' Welch said. Faulk was dazzling on the field, a dual threat out of the backfield who spent his 12 seasons in the NFL with the Indianapolis Colts and the St. Louis Rams. He rushed for 12,279 yards and 100 TDs, while also catching 767 passes for 6,875 yards and 36 scores. He's teaching his tailbacks the little things like footwork — 'I'm a stickler for footwork,' Faulk said — along with how they receive a handoff from their QB. 'After that, go be creative,' Faulk said. 'But we all start with the canvas and the paint brush the same way before we go make art.' For Faulk, it was an easy decision to join Sanders in Boulder. They've been longtime friends. 'Coming here not just to win games on the field, but to win the game off the field, which is to make sure that these young men in life become what they want to become,' the 52-year-old Faulk said. 'That's the important part.'

NFL takes 10% stake in Disney's ESPN, which now owns NFL Network
NFL takes 10% stake in Disney's ESPN, which now owns NFL Network

Los Angeles Times

timean hour ago

  • Los Angeles Times

NFL takes 10% stake in Disney's ESPN, which now owns NFL Network

The NFL has reached a deal to take a 10% ownership stake in the Walt Disney Co.'s ESPN, the league and Disney announced Tuesday evening, a move that is expected to solidify the sports media outlet's relationship with the league for years to come. In return for the equity stake valued at more than $2 billion based on recent valuations of the company, ESPN will take over the NFL's cable properties including the NFL Network and Red Zone, the popular channel that continuously updates fans on the slate of Sunday contests. The NFL Network also has the rights to eight regular season games. In addition to the sale of NFL Network, the NFL and ESPN are also entering into a second non-binding agreement, under which the NFL will license to ESPN certain NFL content and other intellectual property to be used by NFL Network and other assets. The deal is a big win for ESPN Chairman Jimmy Pitaro, who took over the Disney unit in 2018 with a mandate to improve the company's relationship with the NFL. The equity stake comes ahead of ESPN's move into the direct-to-consumer streaming business this fall, which gives consumers the opportunity to purchase the company's sports channels without a cable or satellite TV subscription. NFL Network will also be available on the streaming service. 'This is an exciting day for sports fans,' Pitaro said Tuesday in a statement. 'By combining these NFL media assets with ESPN's reach and innovation, we're creating a premier destination for football fans. Together, ESPN and the NFL are redefining how fans engage with the game — anytime, anywhere. This deal helps fuel ESPN's digital future, laying the foundation for an even more robust offering as we prepare to launch our new direct-to-consumer service.' The new product is aimed at recapturing sports fans who are forgoing cable and satellite services. ESPN has seen its reach in cable decline from 98 million homes in 2013 to around 72 million as a result of cord-cutting. ESPN has the broadcast rights to 'Monday Night Football' and two Super Bowl games in the current NFL contract that runs through 2033 but is expected to be reopened in 2029. The deal with Disney means the NFL's other partners — Fox, NBC, CBS, YouTube and Amazon — will be bidding against an entity that the league has a financial interest in next time the media rights come up. Lachlan Murdoch, executive chairman of Fox Corp., told Wall Street analysts Tuesday he is not concerned the NFL's partnership with ESPN will impact his network's standing with the league. 'We have a tremendous relationship with the NFL,' Murdoch said. 'We appreciate that they are fans of the broadcast and cable networks, and we look forward to working with them and deepening our relationship with them as we move forward.'

DOWNLOAD THE APP

Get Started Now: Download the App

Ready to dive into a world of global content with local flavor? Download Daily8 app today from your preferred app store and start exploring.
app-storeplay-store