By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — Wherever Bill Belichick went in the Hilton Charlotte Uptown during his ACC Kickoff debut Thursday, he got the rock-star treatment and, many times, the media swarmed.
The moment he stepped into a massive ballroom with chandeliers, it felt different than when the league’s other coaches stepped onto the podium to answer questions.
“Appreciate everybody coming out today. It’s really exciting for me to be here,” Belichick said as he gazed at the many members of the media.
The first-year Carolina coach didn’t seem fazed by the circus atmosphere as national and regional reporters packed the large room to near capacity. There appeared to be more security at ACC Kickoff than in past years.
While he was doing a “SportsCenter” interview, camera operators from TV stations lined up to document his walk to the ballroom, as if it were a red-carpet event.
By the time that N.C. State coach Dave Doeren and his players followed the Tar Heels’ press conference, most of the reporters had cleared out.
When Belichick moved to the “breakout room” for more interviews, there were more rows of chairs set up around the table for the head coach than in the previous two days of ACC Kickoff, and for good reason.
The deep throng of reporters made the gatherings that Duke coach Mike Krzyzewski and UNC coach Roy Williams used to get at ACC Tipoff seem modest.
It was a can’t-miss media event to check out Belichick, who spoke to a few members of the Triangle media in a small conference room in the morning. It was the same Belichick for the official afternoon press conference, but there was a different vibe.
It was somewhat familiar to the legendary coach, who has been part of several Super Bowl media days. Yet some aspects were entirely new to him as he adjusted to a new sports ecosystem.
Belichick was known for his brief answers to the media during his tenure as coach of the New England Patriots. Thursday, he gave lengthy answers many times, while still not providing too many details.
Get a complete transcript of UNC’s ACC Kickoff press conference here.
There were no declarations, no predictions, just the stated hope of getting better every day.
“Right now, the big thing for us is just stacking good training days one on top of another, one at a time, and being ready to go, not only for the opener but for the entire regular season and the ACC schedule,” Belichick said.
“That’s our outlook,” he said. “Just put good days together, take advantage of every opportunity, don’t let any days go by where we don’t continue to improve, get better, and get closer to becoming the most consistent and best football team we can be when we step out on to the field, and that’ll hopefully continue every week that we’ll continue to improve as a team all the way through the course of the season.”
He never over-explained, never embellished. But it was clear: every answer came from someone who’s still operating at the highest level — just now in a different arena.
— On coaching college players: “The players are a little bit younger and less skilled. Sometimes that’s an advantage. There are fewer bad habits to break. But also, I’d say the players are much more receptive to the coaching. They haven’t had as long with the way that they were doing it through a college career, maybe, and through some pro years where they were starting to develop some habits that they were comfortable with and maybe were a little harder to change.”
— On Clemson’s Dabo Swinney: “I think that says a lot for the program that he runs and what he’s done for not only college football but all the student-athletes that he’s coached there. They’ve gone on to represent him and the school very well. Again, I have a ton of respect for Dabo and what he’s done. Great opportunity to spend some time with him at the ACC coaches’ meetings, and he’s always been a really enjoyable guy to be around. I don’t know if that’ll be true on Saturday afternoon. Probably not. But at least in these meetings it is.”
— On developing players: “That’s really what coaching is, and that’s what we do. We take great pride in that, myself and our staff, and players who want to be developed. A Carolina player is a player who wants to be a good football player, who wants to work hard, to wants to make a commitment towards improving on a regular basis, towards training and team execution on the field. So, when we get those players, we see a lot of improvement, a lot of development.”
The media circus is over for one day, but there are likely to be return engagements as the Tar Heels inch closer to their Sept. 1 opener at Kenan Stadium against TCU.
Before that game, with ESPN’s top team of Rece Davis, Kirk Herbstreit and Holly Rowe on the call, there will be an hourlong “College Football Countdown” show before the game broadcast with host Matt Barrie, along with Tedy Bruschi, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban and Pete Thamel.
The hype train is storming down the tracks.
Photo courtesy of the ACC
tarheeltribune.com 