Why Bill Belichick isn't attending UNC's bowl game at Fenway Park
BOSTON -- It was only fitting that Bill Belichick's new team -- the North Carolina Tar Heels -- were playing a bowl game at Fenway Park as the future Hall of Famer got set to take over the program. Belichick could have returned to the region where he won six Super Bowl titles with the Patriots and watched his new team in a historic setting.
Alas, Belichick is not in attendance when the Tar Heels play the UConn Huskies in the Fenway Bowl on Saturday, as first reported by ESPN's Pete Thamel. The new UNC head coach has a good reason too, according to North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham.
Why isn't Bill Belichick attending the Fenway Bowl?
Belichick has been hard at work building up the North Carolina program since he was introduced as the new head coach on Dec. 12. But Belichick and general manager Mike Lombardi have been doing so behind the scenes and not in the public eye.
Belichick hasn't been attending Tar Heels practices ahead of Saturday's game because he didn't want to be a distraction to the team. He's skipping out on the Fenway Bowl for that same reason, according to Cunningham.
"He's totally dialed into building the roster," Cunningham told ESPN. "He didn't want to go to practice or be a distraction to the kids or the coaches for the bowl game."
Belichick would certainly be a distraction at Fenway Park, as it would have been his first public appearance in the New England area since Tom Brady's celebration at Gillette Stadium in July. Belichick spent 24 seasons as head coach of the Patriots and led the franchise to an unparalleled level of success, winning six Super Bowl titles and 296 games overall.
Now he's looking to build a winning program at North Carolina.
"It's been great. He and Mike Lombardi have locked themselves in a room and really spent all the time since he's been announced, building the roster for this spring and next year," added Cunningham.
Interim coach Freddie Kitchens will be on the sideline for the Tar Heels on Saturday, and is set to join Belichick's staff permanently after the game.
