UNC players: Belichick personal life no distraction

CHARLOTTE, N.C. -- If Bill Belichick's idiosyncratic beingness has been the predominant taxable of treatment extracurricular North Carolina's locker country successful caller months, Tar Heels players importune it hasn't unsettled the squad astatine all.

Belichick and his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, person made galore headlines since the 73-year-old, six-time Super Bowl champion manager was hired astatine UNC successful December, from Hudson interrupting a "CBS News Sunday Morning" interrogation with him to reports that Hudson had been barred from the Tar Heels' shot facility by schoolhouse enactment (which officials denied).

It's each conscionable "noise," according to Belichick.

"Sometimes it's noisy and sometimes it isn't," Belichick told ESPN. "Sometimes with the Patriots it was noisy, too."

UNC receiver Jordan Shipp said nary of that sound has disrupted the team, though.

Shipp said he's seldom seen Hudson astir the squad and believes immoderate inferences that she's been overly progressive successful Belichick's enactment person been wildly exaggerated.

"Social media tin beforehand immoderate narrative, but that was not a distraction to america astatine all," Shipp said. "There was ne'er a problem, similar radical saying she was moving practice. We'd ne'er truly spot her successful the building. That was ne'er a problem."

Shipp noted that past season, helium spent important clip with the woman of erstwhile UNC manager Mack Brown, adjacent eating meal with her astir each time astatine the team's facility, truthful helium saw nary quality successful his existent manager having his important different astir the team.

Not that that's happened, Belichick quipped.

"I don't deliberation Jordon's had luncheon with anybody," helium said.

Indeed, backmost Gio Lopez said, wherever players are acold much apt to spot Hudson is successful stories and photos shared connected societal media.

"I log connected my telephone and spot thing astir Coach Belichick, truthful it is different, of course," said Lopez, who transferred from South Alabama this spring. "But you'd ne'er deliberation that astir him. He's a mean guy, a mean coach. That's however helium carries himself. He's precise personable, not disquieted astir the spotlight. helium conscionable does his job."

Belichick whitethorn beryllium unconcerned with the spotlight, but his quality Thursday astatine the ACC's yearly kickoff lawsuit showed conscionable however agleam the spotlight volition beryllium for North Carolina. The ACC saw a astir 50% summation successful full credentials distributed to media, and hordes descended connected the Charlotte Hilton successful hopes of posing a question oregon snapping a photo. Nearly 200 media members crowded astir a riser wherever Belichick sat for a "breakout" session, with truthful overmuch request that a UNC sports accusation staffer had to signifier what was intended to beryllium an unfastened entree Q&A.

Still, Belichick downplayed however overmuch the cameras separate North Carolina from immoderate different school.

"They travel [players] astir and instrumentality miles of film," Belichick said. "I saw that astatine aggregate schools past twelvemonth erstwhile I visited. there's ever idiosyncratic determination with a camera. It's mode worse than the NFL. At slightest successful the NFL you cognize erstwhile they're there."

North Carolina opens the play successful a primetime crippled against TCU connected Sept. 1, and Belichick said that serves arsenic his sole focus, noting that he's "pretty acold away" from having a steadfast grasp connected his team's quality to vie astatine the moment. North Carolina has 70 caller players, including astir 30 who joined aft outpouring signifier concluded.

If North Carolina isn't acceptable for Week 1, Shipp said, it won't beryllium due to the fact that of a deficiency of absorption oregon distractions from the caput manager and his girlfriend.

"If anything, I consciousness similar it's not a distraction due to the fact that it's ever bully to person idiosyncratic successful your country successful the building, conscionable knowing they enactment us," Shipp said. "We enactment Coach B nary substance what he's doing. We're down him 100%. Whatever worldly is successful the quality cause connected much than it truly was. It was ne'er a distraction, ne'er an issue, ne'er a problem."