Transcript: Bill Belichick ETSU Week Press Conference

CHAPEL HILL -- North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick spoke with the media on Monday morning ahead of his team's home opener against East Tennessee State. The press conference was Belichick's first public availability since new details emerged about the ongoing investigation into the UNC football program. The second-year head coach fielded questions about that investigation as well as takeaways from the Tar Heels' win against TCU in Dublin, Ireland. Read everything that Belichick had to say below: OPENING STATEMENT BELICHICK: "Obviously excited to get the season started here at home, in Kenan. It's the 100th anniversary, so great recognition of the history of this stadium and all the great people who have played and coached here, so we're excited to be back home. Ireland was a good trip, but it's in the rearview mirror now. "I understand the importance of the work that's being done by the investigative team and, obviously, our high standard here, our code of conduct, and doing things the right way and making sure that our student-athletes are given the utmost, the best treatment, the very best care and the very best coaching that we can give them, so that's critically important to us. "But moving on to ETSU, this is a pretty impressive team. Coach [Will] Healy's done a good job here. Offensively, they're a very explosive team. They're averaging over 40 points a game, 500 yards a game, and close to 60% on third down. They haven't scored less than 14 points in any quarter, and they really rack up a lot of big numbers. They're a very well-balanced team with 500 yards a game, 200 on the ground, 300 in the air. "They have an excellent return game with both the kick returner, the running back, and number two – I'm not sure how to pronounce this guy's name – but he's one of the receivers that returns punts. Big, strong, tough kid, so they have a really good return game. And then defensively, Jenkins, Johnson, two really good players, and they have an excellent free safety, one of the better ones that we'll see back there. "A lot of explosive talent on offense. Mims has done a good job for them at quarterback, and of course, the tight end, Browder, is a guy who's been in a couple of schools and did a nice job at UCF. He's a big, good-looking, 6'6", 6'7" tight end, so he's a problem. A very explosive group of receivers. "They play a lot of people on all phases of the game, offense and defense. So we've got a lot of different guys to get ready for, but it's a very explosive team offensively and in the return game on special teams. So those are some of our big challenges this week." Q: How is Steve Belichick with his process right now, and is there a timetable for his return? BELICHICK: "He's still on medical leave. No [timetable]." Q: What would you say to fans concerned about the year's worth of headlines off the field? BELICHICK: "Yeah, we're focused on getting off to a good start at home and playing competitively against ETSU. We had a good game to build on from last week, but that's over, and so now we're on to week two." Q: What do you think that says about how the program operates away from football?BELICHICK: "I think our student athletes conducted themselves great. They had a great trip to Ireland, and I'm proud of our student athletes, our players. So I think what they did in Ireland is a good example of representing our school." Q: Have you been talked to by investigators and were you made aware that your son was involved? BELICHICK: "Again, we're not allowed to talk about the investigation. So, still not." Q: Do you believe that your program has an atmosphere of compliance? BELICHICK: "Yeah, totally." Q: Why do you think questions are being asked about sex and drug use within the program? BELICHICK: "I don't know, you'd have to ask them. I understand you keep asking those questions, but I can't speak about that." Q: What indication do we have that you have control over this program? BELICHICK: "If you're around here every day, I think you'd see it." Q: How can fans trust you to lead this program to success this season, let alone the rest of your contract? BELICHICK: "Yeah, well, we're day by day, and we're definitely doing the best we can to prepare for EPSU. They have a great program. They play very competitively. We've seen that in the last two weeks, and that's where our focus is. So, that's our goal on Saturday, to go out there and play as well as we can against them at home." Q: In 2023, the NCAA ruled that the head coach is in charge of all compliance in the program. Were you aware of that rule change? BELICHICK: "Yeah, I'm aware of all the NCAA rules. I mean, I can't tell you that I know the rulebook word for word. But, yeah." Q: What impact does the lack of a general manager on staff have on the program, and is there a timeline to add one? BELICHICK: "That's kind of the way it's been here for the last few weeks. So we've kind of redistributed some things. We'll continue to stay with that for the time being." Q: Have you had any conversations with the chancellor and AD about your job security? BELICHICK: "I'm focused on ETSU. That's what our team is doing." Q: Have you had any player parents reach out about the reports wanting some reassurance about the program? BELICHICK: "I talk to the players on a daily basis. I think I have a good relationship with the players. You can certainly talk to them, but I keep them informed and do the best I can, and our staff does the best they can staying on top of the players, holding them accountable for the things that they need to do both on and off the field as student athletes and as football players and to prepare the team to be ready to play hard and play well on Saturdays. That's what we do." Q: Has the college experience changed how you run the program off the field? BELICHICK: "I'm not really sure I understand the question, but my main focus is to coach the football team, and that's where I put my time and energy, and that's what we're doing right now. We're in the middle of the season, and the season's started. That's where we're at. Obviously, everybody's responsible, including me, for doing things properly, and we intend to do that." Q: Is it heartbreaking for you to have your oldest son go through this situation? BELICHICK: "Look, I love all my kids, but I'm not going to comment on a medical situation." Q: Is there any update on hiring another GM, and how do you approach the defensive coordinator position going forward? BELICHICK: "No updates. If we do, you'll be the first to know." Q: Has the university asked you to change any way that you run the program? BELICHICK: "No, I have an ongoing relationship and communication with the university, and they've been very supportive. I have a very good working relationship with those people. In the end, we want to run the program in the very best way. If there are things we need to do correctly, then we'll obviously do them." Q: How much responsibility do you think you bear when questions are being raised about the program? BELICHICK: "Well, again, I can't really comment on that. We'll see what the questions or what the answers are. I don't know." Q: How have you addressed the investigation with the players and ensured that this doesn't snowball? BELICHICK: "Honestly." Q: Have you talked to Michael Lombardi at all since his resignation? BELICHICK: "I'll keep all my conversations – private conversations – private. I hope you respect that. As I would do with you." Q: What are your thoughts on what has transpired with Lombardi? BELICHICK: "Again, my focus is on getting the team ready to play against East Tennessee State. That's what we're doing right now. I'm not involved in the other part of the process. My job is to get the team ready to play this weekend. That's what we're going to do." Q: How different is year two going for you relating to expectations when first coming in versus where they are now? BELICHICK: "My expectation is to do the best I can for the team every day and get our team performing well, coaching staff and players. That'll never change. It's a day-to-day process. Today we're in the process of game planning for this game Saturday. "Tomorrow we'll go out and practice. We'll practice the next day on third down and two minutes. We'll practice the next day on the red area and the goal line. We'll review everything, and we'll go out and play on Saturday. We do what we do." Q: Given what's happening, do you feel like the players understand that as well? BELICHICK: "Absolutely, that's their job. That's our job." Q: What were your takeaways watching the TCU game film, particularly with the running game? BELICHICK: "I think we left some yards on the field in all three areas: offensively, in the running game, the passing game, and the return game. Defensively, we gave up some yards that I didn't think we needed to give up. We need to do a better job of correcting those mistakes, coaching, and fixing some things. "TCU did a good job of attacking us. They gave us a few problems. We'll do a better job, hopefully, of correcting those and making some adjustments. We did that during the game as those things popped up. That's part of the early games of the season. "The first three, four, five games of the year, there's going to be an element of that where you have to get attacked by a new team and fix the problems that they try to create for you. You try to create the same ones for them. That's kind of where we are in this first third of the season. We'll do a lot of that." Q: What did you think about the offensive line performance against TCU? BELICHICK: "First of all, it was good to have them all out there. That was a good thing. Hopefully, that continues. The more those guys play together, the more they can communicate and see the game through one set of eyes, which is really important. "They're responsible for five players to block, sometimes six in pass protection, depending on what the protection is. For all of them to be on the same page and to get the right 5-for-5 or 5-for-6 or whatever it is, especially against a team like TCU that did some line game twists. They dropped people into the box from 9 or 10 yards deep. Those DBs actually became linebackers. "They gave some tough looks and then stemmed in and out of some things. That group playing together cohesively is very important for the success of the offense, but also in coordination with the quarterback. He needs to know, especially in pass protection, who's blocked and who isn't. "Getting all those guys on the same page, being able to work with them through the spring and through training camp, OTAs or – not OTAs – PRPs, sorry, in summer conditioning, stuff like that, those things all help gel that group together. Those guys spend a lot of time together as most offensive linemen do. "Just that camaraderie, that teamwork that is really important to all five of those spots. We're way ahead of where we were last year, and hopefully we can continue to build on that." Q: How have the role definitions played out in the running back room? BELICHICK: "Well, it's been very competitive. If we had Jim Brown, and Jim Brown was Omarion Hampton, and he was standing out as clearly the best player that's never coming off the field, then that would be one thing. But these guys are all very competitive. "[Jaylen] McGill had a couple good runs, Ben [Hall] had some good runs. [Demon June] came on, obviously did well for us last year. We have multiple backs; I'm confident in all of them. They're all going to get their opportunities. If one guy can emerge as the guy, then he will. If not, then we'll continue to use our depth. "But it's always better to have one too many or two too many running backs than not enough. We've been there before, and that's not good. Those guys are all able to make yards on their own. They're good in pass protection, which is important. They work well together. I'm glad we have that depth. We'll just let them compete on the field. We'll see how it turns out." Q: How nice was it for some freshmen to get good reps against TCU? BELICHICK: "Those are all earned reps. They weren't given out. They earned them through the spring and the summer, but more importantly in training camp and some of the competitive situations we had there. When they earn those reps, they get opportunities. "How they do in the game either leads to more opportunities or possibly fewer opportunities. We'll see how that goes. It's good to get them out there. I think that first game, especially in the environment we played in against a good team, was challenging. But overall, I thought they held up well. Certainly not perfectly. "There's a lot of room for improvement, but I thought they generally handled the situation pretty maturely and competitively. Hopefully, they can build on that and continue to gain some confidence and realize that they're not in over their head. They just have to compete hard. "If they do that, they'll be all right. It's definitely good to see them out there. As guys continue to earn those roles in practice, they'll get more opportunities. There may be a couple guys, like we saw last year, that didn't dress, didn't play, and then after however much time, if they can earn that playing time on the practice field, then they'll eventually get it in the game. We'll see how that plays out. It's good to see them out there." Q: Does the bye come at a good time for your team after the travel? BELICHICK: "It was a long trip. We didn't get back until late Sunday afternoon, and Monday is kind of a recovery day. It would have been a lot to get ready this week, but we've played short weeks before. When they schedule them, we play them. "Certainly, it's good to have a little bit of extra time, especially early in a year, to correct some of the mistakes from TCU before we moved on so quickly to ETSU. Overall, you take advantage of whatever time you have. If you have a long week, then eventually you're going to have a short week and vice versa. "When you have the opportunity to do extra work, then you need to try to take advantage of it and get the most out of it. That's what we did."