By Jeff Howe, Bruce Feldman, Chad Graff and Sam Khan Jr.

There’s been another twist in the messy split between head coach Bill Belichick and the New England Patriots.

Belichick, now the head coach at the University of North Carolina, has turned the Patriots away from a Tar Heels practice, according to league sources. The Patriots attempted to send a member of the scouting department to visit UNC in August, but North Carolina told the Patriots they were not permitted to attend.

“It’s so petty,” a scout from a different NFL team told The Athletic.

According to a league source, the Patriots had planned to send a scout who was a graduate of NC State. The scout thought that was the reason UNC wouldn’t allow him to attend practice, the source said. However, a UNC source confirmed that Belichick’s history with the Patriots led to the policy.

“Why would we let them in our home after how he’s been treated since he left? They get all our tape (and) can call our staff for player info,” the Carolina source said. “We will help our players, but being treated fairly is a two-way street.”

The Patriots haven’t attempted to visit UNC since. They also didn’t plan to send a scout Monday night to watch North Carolina’s 48-14 loss to TCU in the season opener.

Other teams have been allowed to scout UNC’s practices, the sources said. However, the Tar Heels have increased restrictions on scouts since Belichick arrived this year. Scouts from other teams told The Athletic their viewing window was limited to the opening three periods of practice, which includes stretching. (Most college football practices have between 20 and 28 periods.)

Additionally, UNC has directed NFL teams to solely go through assistant director of player personnel/pro liaison Frantzy Jourdain with questions about draft prospects, the sources said. NFL teams have been told not to contact members of the coaching staff or anyone else on campus about draft prospects. The teams didn’t know if there would be repercussions if they violated UNC’s protocols, but they believed access could be further restricted.

UNC did not respond to multiple messages for comment.

Neither Belichick nor North Carolina is violating any NCAA rules by refusing to permit a team to watch any portions of practice.

However, NFL teams have been frustrated by the lack of access, even if they’ve encountered similar roadblocks in the past with other coaches or programs. Former coaches Urban Meyer and Bobby Petrino were notoriously difficult with NFL scouts on such visits.

“It only hurts the players,” another scout said.

One NFL executive said they won’t draft a player if they can’t obtain a complete evaluation, and if they have questions about a player’s character but the coaching staff isn’t available to answer questions about that player, the team will take him off its draft board. Similarly, as teams rush to sign undrafted free agents, they’re typically going to target players they are more familiar with from the scouting process.

Former Alabama coach Nick Saban welcomed NFL scouts to practice because he wanted to help their draft stock as much as possible. Saban also believed it helped his team because players practiced harder when scouts were in attendance.

That’s why teams believe, if Belichick doesn’t start winning, this policy will hurt his program. Generally speaking, players are there to prepare for the NFL and maximize NIL earnings. If they don’t believe they’re given a fair shake with all 32 teams’ scouting departments, it could sting Belichick’s recruiting efforts. — Jeff Howe, NFL insider

What does scouting access look like?

Access is hot and cold depending on which colleges a scout may visit. Coaches, especially college coaches, can be very paranoid, but from the NFL scouts I’ve talked to, the access is actually a little better than it used to be. Alabama hasn’t just been the gold standard for success on the field, but also for accommodating NFL scouts, who are happy about how Saban’s successor, Kalen DeBoer, has handled things — at least for them.

“DeBoer kept the same policies for us,” said one longtime scout who covers the entire country for an NFL team, “meaning from their first day of practice until their last bowl practice, you have unlimited access. You can go in there for four days straight, be at practice every single day. I’d be sitting in the linebacker meeting room watching film and the playbook is sitting right next to me. Saban didn’t care. You were able to talk to their (NFL) liaison every day. You got to talk to the strength coach every day. It was unlimited access to coaches during the day when they weren’t in meetings. You could stay there all day long, with unlimited access, and they fed you three meals a day.

“Georgia (and) Florida are the same way, wide open. Texas is really good. Lane (Kiffin)’s great. You can go in there (Ole Miss) whenever you want. Almost anybody who comes from the Saban (coaching) tree is wide open. Mario (Cristobal) is the only one not that way. There are a lot of Big Ten schools that are great too — Iowa, Illinois, Minnesota.

“Rutgers historically has been terrible for access. … Oklahoma is bad. … But the worst for me are Florida State and Miami. It makes my job difficult.” — Bruce Feldman, CFB insisder

Belichick’s relationship with Kraft, Patriots

The relationship between Belichick and Patriots owner Robert Kraft grew sour toward the end of Belichick’s 24-year run with the team, but became especially bitter after their split.

Initially, they tried to hide the frosty feelings. They held a joint press conference in January 2024 when they announced what they called a “mutual” parting of ways. Kraft called Belichick “the greatest coach of all time,” and the coach thanked Kraft.

However, Belichick turned more openly sour after Kraft called their split a firing on a radio interview — not the “mutual” term they agreed on — and a 10-part Apple TV documentary painted Belichick in a bad light.

Since then, the coach hasn’t concealed his frustrations and poor feelings toward his former boss and the franchise he owns, shooing away multiple attempted olive branches.

When Kraft was asked on a podcast this summer for the best move he made as an owner, he pointed toward the hiring of Belichick but called it a “big risk” and added that he “got hammered in the Boston media” at the time. It seemed to be a compliment toward Belichick, an attempt at mending their relationship. However, Belichick focused on the “risk” part of the quote and aired his grievances to ESPN, insisting it was he who actually took the big risk.

Last week, Belichick told The Boston Globe that one of the joys of coaching in college was that “there’s no owner, there’s no owner’s son.”

Now, the latest news comes one day after Kraft told WBZ-TV in Boston that he hopes to put a statue of Belichick next to the newly unveiled statue of Tom Brady once Belichick retires from coaching.

However, it doesn’t look like the relationship will smooth out. Belichick has always been petty and fueled by revenge, and that doesn’t seem to be swaying his feelings toward the Patriots any time soon. — Chad Graff, Patriots senior writer

UNC’s roster

Belichick’s first North Carolina team isn’t dripping with NFL-ready talent. That much was clear from watching the Tar Heels get their doors blown off Monday night by TCU. A Power 4 personnel director estimated that the number of legitimate draftable prospects on Belichick’s current roster is less than five.

Cornerbacks Thaddeus Dixon, who followed defensive coordinator Steve Belichick from Washington to North Carolina, and Marcus Allen are the most intriguing of the bunch. Both ranked among the top 20 senior corners in Dane Brugler’s 2026 NFL Draft summer positional rankings. One NFL scout called Dixon the only surefire draftable guy at this point.

Khmori House, a linebacker who also made the Washington-to-UNC trek, is a true sophomore who has flashed potential. House was No. 66 in The Athletic’s Preseason Transfer 100. Right guard Daniel King was the only other prospect to land in Brugler’s 2026 projections, ranking 16th among senior interior offensive linemen.

North Carolina underwent a major roster overhaul after Belichick’s hiring, which is typical in modern college football. The Tar Heels took in 70 newcomers, including 40 transfers and 30 true freshmen. Because college football’s transfer portal window opened three days before Belichick’s official hiring on Dec. 12, he and general manager Michael Lombardi had to play catch-up.

College football personnel staffs spend the bulk of the calendar year recruiting high school prospects and scouting other rosters well before December to decide who to target in the transfer portal. Belichick and Lombardi didn’t have that advantage, making it harder to be competitive and acquire elite portal prospects. As they settle into the job for Year 2, chances are they’ll be more prepared to load up the roster with better talent for 2026. — Sam Khan Jr., college football senior writer

— Brendan Marks and Dianna Russini contributed to this report.

(Photo: Jared C. Tilton / Getty Images)