North Carolina coach Bill Belichick encouraged by progress

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Bill Belichick has seen North Carolina run through only two practices this spring — players in shorts and jerseys without names or numbers — so he’s not making any grand pronouncements about the caliber of team he’s working with.

But the one thing he says he feels confident in is the Tar Heels will be built his way and without compromise.

“I don’t really have any expectations,” Belichick said. “It’s going to be up to each individual. I know we’ve got a good plan, I know we can do the right things to put a good product on the field. Everybody that buys into it and wants to be a part of it, will be a part of it. And if they don’t, they can go somewhere else. That’s their decision.”

Belichick said he has been encouraged by the team’s progress since he arrived, though he said the early days of spring practice haven’t offered many insights.

But unlike his time in the NFL, the 72-year-old Belichick said he expected to use the spring as an opportunity to develop players through contact and physicality — particularly in the run game and along the line of scrimmage, something that was difficult to do during minicamps and OTAs in the pros.

“We didn’t have pads to do things like that,” Belichick said. “Contact is very limited in the NFL in the spring. There really isn’t any.”

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One group that won’t have much contact is the quarterbacks. UNC’s depth chart at the position is thin, with Purdue transfer Ryan Browne and true freshman Bryce Baker. Last season’s Week 1 starter, Max Johnson, remains as well, but he’s recovering from a broken leg sustained in the opener.

Belichick said Johnson was “getting better,” and UNC was adjusting his workload each day based on how he responded to the previous day’s efforts.

Beyond that, Belichick said the first few practices at UNC have been as much an onboarding for players as a chance for the staff to evaluate what it has.

“It’s kind of similar to what a rookie minicamp would be and time with the rookies,” Belichick said. “… We’re starting to put everything together — here’s how we do things, here’s what our expectations are, this is what you need to do to be successful. They’ve embraced that and tried to do it.

“We haven’t accomplished anything, but we’re a lot further along than we were five weeks ago. We’re getting there.”

It’s also a chance for Belichick to get back to doing what he does best.

“That’s the great thing about being a head coach — I can coach anybody I want,” Belichick said. “I can coach the line, I can yell at the tight ends, I can yell at the DBs, I can yell at the kickers.

“I can go to any group I want and coach them. And honestly, that’s the fun part.”