Mack Brown is really sitting back and enjoying the UNC downfall under Bill Belichick. But his recent dig at UNC and Belichick was subtly done based on Belichick’s recent drama with his former workplace. The tension escalated when the UNC barred Patriots scouts from attending its football practices. Belichick confirmed that, saying, “It’s clear that I’m not welcome there, around their facility. And so they’re not welcome at ours. It’s pretty simple.” And on top of that, Belichick took this bitterness up a notch. How?

According to sources inside the Tar Heels program, Belichick has explicitly instructed staff not to tweet or retweet anything Patriots-related. This cold shoulder meant 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. Now, with all this happening, Mack Brown wouldn’t leave this chance to break some rules constructed by his former workplace. So what did he do? Brown openly celebrated Maye’s success. “So Happy for Drake,” Brown writes on X, posting a picture with Maye.

“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!” The thing is, Maye is arguably UNC’s biggest sports asset and a top NFL prospect. That’s why this makes this blackout even more puzzling. But North Carolina wouldn’t let their former hero’s big win slide by because of some childish beef. Thus, even UNC posted Maye’s success on X, saying, “@DrakeMaye2 pulling off some magic, where have we seen this before?” The thing is, Drake set some stellar records during his time at UNC.

Taking over as the full-time starter in 2022, Maye immediately announced his arrival by throwing five touchdowns in his debut game. That season, he shattered school records by passing for 4,321 yards and 38 touchdowns while adding 698 rushing yards and seven more scores on the ground. His total offense of 5,019 yards led the entire NCAA, earning him ACC Football Player of the Year honors. His overall UNC career ended with 8,018 passing yards and 63 total touchdowns, cementing his place as one of the Tar Heels’ all-time greats. So it’s pretty natural for the Tar Heels to celebrate this win.

Sure, Mack Brown’s jab against Belichick ended up with him breaking some rules. But let’s face it, the foundation of those rules is based on a bogus beef with the Patriots. 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. Though Maye didn’t throw a touchdown in the 23–20 win, he still made plenty of highlight-worthy plays. And UNC ended up sharing one of them on X.

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.