By R.L. Bynum
Bill Belichick is set to make his ACC Kickoff debut Thursday in Charlotte — but some reporters just couldn’t wait. Eager for interviews, insights and maybe even a quote about his girlfriend Jordon Hudson, media outlets from around the country have been scrambling for access.
The only problem? Many of them appear to be calling the wrong place.
Instead of contacting UNC Athletics Communications — the people who might be able to set up an interview — reporters have been mistakenly seeking help from the University of North Carolina Press to connect with the first-year Carolina football coach.
That’s right: a nonprofit publisher of scholarly and general-interest books and journals — including One Fantastic Ride about UNC’s run to the 2009 national championship and Carolina Basketball: A Century of Excellence.
But that’s UNC Press, not either UNC sports information or Carolina’s press office. This is evidently not clear to some national reporters who have never covered Carolina football. All of this pressed UNC Press to respond.
“The amount of times we get mistaken for the media office is wild,” UNC Press writes in the comments with a cheeky TikTok video it published last week (as Awful Announcing first reported) to try to clarify that.
The video features a woman and a man who try to get their point across. The Lewky song “I Have One Daughter” — which ends with the line, “I don’t understand” — plays in the background.
Using captions, a mock conversation is presented between a reporter and UNC Press.
Reporter: “I’m a reporter, does the University of North Carolina have a comment on Bill Belichick?”
UNCP: “We’re the University of North Carolina PRESS, the book publisher.”
Reporter: “OK, but do you have a comment on Bill Belichick?”
UNCP: “We’re not the university media office; we publish books.”
Reporter: “But does UNC have a comment?:
UNCP: “We publish academic BOOKS.”
Reporter: “Would love to hear UNC’s official statement.”
UNCP: “I don’t understand.”
So, if you’re hoping to interview Belichick — or get a quote — skip the publishing house and call the folks in UNC Athletics Communications. They’re the ones with the press passes, not books.
Photo via TicTok video screenshot
tarheeltribune.com 