Mack Brown seems to be quietly enjoying the chaos unfolding in Chapel Hill. But his recent dig at UNC and Belichick was subtly done based on Belichick’s recent drama with the New England Patriots. The tension escalated when sources inside the Tar Heels program confirmed that Belichick had explicitly instructed staff not to tweet or retweet anything Patriots-related. UNC’s official Twitter stayed silent after former quarterback Drake Maye’s prime-time win, leading the Patriots to an upset over the Buffalo Bills. For a school that has long celebrated its star alumni, the silence was deafening.

That’s where Mack Brown stepped in.“So Happy for Drake, Fun to watch him win last night in Buffalo like he did so many times at UNC. Love and appreciate you, my friend! Keep it rolling!” Brown wrote on X, posting a picture with Maye. Not long after, even UNC broke protocol, posting a subtle nod to their former star. They congratulated Maye on X, saying, “@DrakeMaye2 pulling off some magic, where have we seen this before?” 

So Happy for Drake. Fun to watch him win last night in Buffalo like he did so many times at UNC. Love ❤️ and Appreciate you my friend! Keep it rolling! pic.twitter.com/BlfuJOGSto

Maye is one of UNC’s most accomplished quarterbacks ever. Taking over as the full-time starter in 2022, he threw five touchdowns in his debut game, shattered school records with 4,321 passing yards and 38 touchdowns, and added 698 rushing yards that same season. His total offense of 5,019 yards led the nation and earned him ACC Player of the Year honors. So the celebration is natural. So it’s pretty natural for the Tar Heels to celebrate this win.

Instead, the ban has made this celebratory situation unnecessarily political. Plus, Belichick’s longstanding feud isn’t with the Patriots team itself but directly with owner Robert Kraft. For 24 years, Belichick and Kraft formed the core of one of the NFL’s most successful dynasties, winning six Super Bowls together. But after Belichick’s controversial exit in 2023, their relationship soured badly. Kraft publicly framed his hiring of Belichick as a huge “risk.” And do you think Belichick will let that go? Absolutely not.

Belichick fired back, saying, “As I told Robert multiple times through the years, I took a big risk by taking the New England Patriots head coaching job.” At this point, this feud looks like a never-ending saga between Chapel Hill and Foxborough. But who is getting affected? An alma mater that just wants to celebrate its former athletes’ wins.

Bill Belichick’s starting from scratch at UNC?

It seems like Bill Belichick has his reasons for not performing well in his debut season with UNC. And the reason makes out a clear jab at former Tar Heels’ HC, Mack Brown. Belichick didn’t beat around the bush. “We missed on a couple of recruiting classes,” he said. “Only have a handful of players starting from them.” Just so you know, Belichick brought in 70 new players, with 40 of those being transfers, essentially ripping up the roster and starting fresh.

And that was necessary because when he took on the reins, the cupboard was empty. Brown left him almost nothing to build on. It’s like rebuilding a house by tearing it down to the foundation. That’s not typical for a coach, especially one known for his NFL championship pedigree. Even voices outside the program back this up. Paul Finebaum, a staunch Mack Brown supporter, admitted Brown “left the cupboard empty” for Belichick. For Finebaum to say that about his longtime friend really drives the point home.

Sure, Brown had some good spells at UNC, but apparently, not enough foundation was laid for Belichick to hit the ground running. Fast forward to this season, the 2-3 record under Belichick, where the team is just averaging 18.8 points per game. The Tar Heels have been crushed the last two weeks, putting up just 19 points while giving up a whopping 72. This speaks a lot about how the program is struggling.