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Bill Belichick's beef with Robert Kraft and the New England Patriots reaches new heights after he bans team personnel from UNC

Originally posted on A to Z Sports | By Rob Gregson | Last updated Sep 4, 2025 5:35 PM ET

It's safe to say that the New England Patriots and Bill Belichick didn't end things on the best of terms. A well-documented divorce that closed what many believe to be the greatest dynasty in team sports, the Kraft family, the Patriots organization, and Bill Belichick don't see eye to eye anymore.

That was proven last week when Belichick said that he liked college due to the lack of people hovering above him the way they did with the Patriots.

Fast forward to this week, and now we see just how messy things have gotten between Belichick and the Pats, as he has reportedly barred New England scouts from coming to UNC.

Bill Belichick reportedly bans Patriots scouts from North Carolina

'[Bill] Belichick hasn't been very accommodating [to scouts], and I was told by multiple people that he has banned the New England Patriots," said former NFL scout John Middlekauff on his 3 & Out Podcast. "If you're a scout for the New England Patriots, you are not allowed at the University of North Carolina, which is funny, but also kind of embarrassing."

Honestly, beyond embarrassing, it's detrimental. What is Bill Belichick's main task outside of coaching? It would be recruiting right? And beyond the money and notoriety that the NIL era brings, all recruits all searching for the same thing as they always have: a chance to play in the NFL.

Well, if you don't allow scouts very much access, and then you totally ban one franchise from coming, you are making the next step for your players that much harder. Teams want all the information they can gather before they invest millions of dollars into a prospect during the NFL Draft. So it will scare some teams off, which in turn could scare some recruits off.

It seems like a bad decision and one made out of spite.

"There's no owner, there's no owner's son, there's no cap, everything that goes with the marketing and everything else, which I'm all for that," Belichick said when asked about the differences between the NFL and college football in an interview with The Boston Globe. "But it's way less of what it was at that level. Generic NFL teams, you have the owner, president, general manager, personnel director, college director, pro director, cap guy, some other consultant, then head coach."

A pot shot of sorts, whether it's talking about his former place of employment or banning them entirely, it's clear Belichick wants nothing to do with the New England Patriots.

This article first appeared on A to Z Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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