"People have been waiting to beat Bill up": Chris Long suggests Bill Belichick is facing media heat out of resentment

Bill Belichick's relationship with the media was always tumultuous during his time as the New England Patriots head coach. Belichick was often grumpy when dealing with reporters, only easing a bit in his final years with the franchise.

However, Belichick seems to have changed somewhat. After leaving the Patriots, he had many media gigs in his year away from the sidelines. Now that he has signed on to coach the North Carolina football team, it's likely that his approach will change, especially after spending the 2024 season in front of the cameras.

A discussion between Chris Long (a former player) and Ryan Clark (a former media colleague) touched on the media's treatment of Bill Belichick's relationship with Jordon Hudson.

Speaking on "Green Light with Chris Long" on Wednesday, both agreed that the aggressive coverage seems like a way for media members to vindicate themselves for how Belichick acted during his New England days:

“He was a lot cooler than at least I thought he would be," said Clark. "And (what) I do kinda hate is, when he moved out from us, go to North Carolina, everything’s been about his relationship. I feel like some of the equity he built up doing TV, they took away from him." (TS-50:29)

"A lot of people have been waiting to beat Bill up because he’s always had the upper hand with the media," Long added.

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Bill Belichick publicly defended girlfriend amid reports of UNC ban

During spring practices in June, Bill Belichick spoke to reporters amid reports that his girlfriend was banned from entering football facilities at UNC. He denied those rumors, but also noted that she didn't have any role at the university.

“No, she doesn’t have any role in the UNC football program. But again, there’s been noise out there about a lot of different things. Our focus is day to day, getting better, stacking good days together.”

This will be his first stint as a head coach in college football after a long career in the NFL. In a different universe, with different levels of maturity in his players, it remains to be seen if his methods will translate seamlessly.