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Sports Illustrated
Sports Illustrated
Michael Kadlick

Bill Belichick Reportedly Preventing UNC From Celebrating Drake Maye's Big Win

Former North Carolina quarterback Drake Maye put together the best performance of his young NFL career on Sunday night. You wouldn't know it, however, if you took a look at the Tar Heels' social media presence.

In a 23-20 upset win over the Bills in Buffalo, Maye went 22-for-30 passing for 273 yards while tallying a passer rating of 101.1 and making throw after throw—including this dime to Stefon Diggs—to keep New England in it against the league's best in Josh Allen.

And yet, the 23-year-old's alma mater has done nothing to promote the young star. Unfortunately, we know why.

According to a report from 247Sports' Ross Martin, there has been a directive from UNC head coach Bill Belichick to not tweet or re-tweet anything Patriots-related from the team's account. Belichick, of course, coached New England for 24 seasons from 2000 to '24, winning six Super Bowls before being fired after two consecutive four-win campaigns.

This is far from a good look for Belichick, considering not only the history between him and the Patriots, but the fact that the @UNCFootball account posted multiple highlights of former running back Javontae Williams scoring touchdowns for the Cowboys on Sunday.

Even former Tar Heels head coach Mack Brown, whom the program fired last December, took the time to congratulate Maye on his big game.

Petty is as petty does.

Update: For what it's worth, the team has since posted a highlight of Maye following Monday's reporting, comparing a play he made on Sunday night to one he made with Carolina a few years ago.

File this one in the "too little, too late" drawer.

Bill Belichick's Rocky Relationship with Patriots

It's been far from rainbows and butterflies since Robert Kraft and Belichick "mutually" agreed to part ways in January of 2024. While the two sides played nice at the Roast of Tom Brady that spring, Kraft stoked the fire when he told The Breakfast Club last October that he fired the head coach but "tried to do it in a classy way."

After a back-and-forth between the two earlier this year on who truly took the risk when Belichick was hired back in 2000 (both men believe they stuck their necks out), Kraft recently tried to take a higher road by telling WBZ-TV's Dan Roche that he'd welcome putting a statue of the 73-year-old next to Tom Brady's in the Gillette Stadium plaza.

Belichick, meanwhile, has gone in the other direction—taking shots at both Kraft and his son, and banning Patriots scouts from evaluating his players at North Carolina.

And now here we are. Surely, this isn't the end of the saga.


More College Football on Sports Illustrated


This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bill Belichick Reportedly Preventing UNC From Celebrating Drake Maye's Big Win.

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