Episode Transcript
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Speaker 1 (00:00):
All right, ladies, so tell them along here in turnment
(00:02):
from Bee's Talkie leven Ted and ninety nine three w.
Speaker 2 (00:05):
BT, Strange things are a foot at the Circle case.
Speaker 1 (00:09):
This is Good Morning Beat with Bohubson and Beth Trout. Bitch,
watch me for the changes and try to keep up.
Speaker 3 (00:16):
Okay right now, boy, Lots of action in Chapel Hill.
On the field, the Tar Hill has lost big time
to Clemson over the weekend, and off the field, Lots
of discussions and questions going on too, surrounding the North
Carolina football program with Bill Belichick at the Helm. Wral's
(00:41):
Pat Welter in Raleigh broke a story earlier this week
about things going on behind the scenes according to his sources.
Before we get to our next guest's remind you where
we are with the story right now. Back to Pat Welter.
Speaker 4 (00:54):
We reported in our investigation Monday, citing nearly a dozen sources,
that Bill Belichick's coaching and culture has led to a
divided locker room. Now multiple sources have shared with me
that there was a fight in the locker room just yesterday.
A lot of Carolina's internal issues the result of an
individualistic culture. According to sources, and a locker room divided
by Mac Brown era players versus Belichick recruits. According to sources,
(01:17):
Belichick recruits have received preferential treatment. One player repeatedly named
by sources as cornerback Thattius Dixon. According to sources, Dixon
potentially out for the season after an injury he suffered
in the Clemson game. U and C has not confirmed
his status, and the team isn't required to file an
injury report until next week. Meanwhile, cornerbacks coach Armand Hawkins
(01:37):
was suspended Tuesday according to The Athletic, which is owned
by The New York Times, for benefits allegations which came
to light from wril's investigation. But sources tell us that
players were told in a meeting Tuesday that Hawkins would
mispractice for personal business.
Speaker 3 (01:51):
That's again, Pat Welcher WRL. You should also know that
joint statements were released last night, one from Bill Belichick,
the head coach, and one from Bubba Cunningham. Belichick's statement
one sentence it says, I'm fully committed to UNC football
and the program we're building here. Cunningham's was coach Belichick
has the full support of the Department of Athletics and
(02:14):
the university. And so with that, we bring on one
of our favorite tar Heels, somebody that you hear a
lot on the station, especially with Brett Winnable in the afternoon.
And of course he's still coaching out there Doherty Coaching
dot Com. But we know him, of course first and
foremost as the former national champion and then head coach
of the tar Heels in later years. Matt Doherty is
(02:36):
back with US coach. Hope you're doing okay.
Speaker 1 (02:39):
I'm doing great. Yeah, I'm doing great. I'm not sitting
in Bill Belichick's seat, so I'm doing really well. Well.
Speaker 2 (02:47):
Now, look, you have been a coach at Carolina as
you have been seeing these stories about Bill Belichick. What
has your first impression been.
Speaker 1 (02:56):
Yeah, I think a couple of things. One, you know,
what do you expect? Like, what do we expect? We
hired an NFL coach and he's transitioned to college my assumption,
and I think most of his staff have not been
in college. He's got seventy new players because of the
(03:18):
transfer portal, they are not flushed with NFL talent. So
what do we expect? Do we expect him to be
what five and zero, you know, like, that's kind of ridiculous.
The expectations were through the freaking roof. And you look
back Matt Brown in his first stint at North Carolina
(03:40):
one in ten and one in ten and ended up
in the top ten a few years later. So you
can't make chicken salad at a chicken, you know what.
And so I think that the expectations now more than ever.
You know, it's a microwave society, you know, we buy it,
we put it in micro wave, and we expect in
(04:01):
two and a half minutes for it to be hot
and ready to eat. That's not the way you build organizations,
especially football teams with rosters in excess of you know,
eighty players.
Speaker 3 (04:14):
So there are a number of stories floating around about this.
Ali Connolly had a lengthy thread on X yesterday that's
been picked up by a lot of national outlets and
reputable ones. But he says, per sources, Bill Belichick has
discussed buyout options with North Carolina's hierarchy. Hierarchy he signaled
to willingness to trigger his own one million dollar buyout
(04:36):
if he can find a soft landing with another team
or in the media, we were also playing a report
earlier about how that legally they're exploring options about whether
Bill Belichick could be fired for calls based on some
of these you know, behind the scenes allegations. So you know,
I don't think anybody expected Bill Belichick to, you know,
(04:56):
win the National Championship coming out of the gate. But
it's one thing to talk about the things going on
on the field, but the off the field stuff like
do you do you feel like this could be as
serious as it is, meaning that maybe he won't be
around for the whole season.
Speaker 1 (05:12):
You know, that's all speculation. I don't know who Ali is,
but there's always people like that floating around the program
stirring things up, and there's probably some truth to it.
So I think a couple of things. This all comes
down the leadership, and that's why I do what I
do now as an executive coach. College athletics are family
(05:35):
run businesses, and many family run businesses are dysfunctional. And
this all started because some boosters apparently didn't end around
no pun intended on a Bobba Cunningham and brought Bill
Belichick in, and you know, because they thought it was best.
So leadership, there's a lack of alignment between the boosters
(05:59):
and the administration. So no trust, they don't stay in
their lanes ego pride, and that goes on in business,
but athletic departments, especially at places like University of North
Carolina with long traditions if family run businesses. And I
had to deal with that, you know, you know, following
Dean Smith and Bill Guthridge. So and then the second thing, so,
(06:22):
so okay, they hired Bill Belichick. He's here now. Now
it comes down to leadership internally to Bill Belichick, who's
never been a college football coach. You know, his staff
comes in and I think most of them came from
the NFL. He's got the girlfriend distraction. He has always
(06:43):
been gruff. He's always been a little bit controlling, and
so I am surprised to hear that internally that he
is not doing a better job there. However, that's the
NFL mentality, Like the best players get paid the mouse money.
So Tom Brady was treated differently than another player, and
(07:07):
you know, and in college locker room they're not used
to that as much. And that's a level of maturity.
But it comes down to communication and leadership, and it's
just a bad. It was a bad fit all around.
And I go back to the leadership and alignment from
the boosters to the administration. But we're here now, we're here,
(07:29):
So what do we do? You support the man till
you can't, all right? You support him, you support him,
you support him, and then it reaches a tipping point
and you don't support him, and will there be a buyout?
Who knows? But the only thing you can control as
a coach. And I've been there is today's practice. What
do you do today? And I think Bill Belichick is
(07:52):
more you know this, This has come up. Nick Saban
talked about it recently. Phil Jackson has talked about it.
They're transactional coaches and transformational coaches, and I think that
Bill Belichick is a transactional coach. Okay, more of the
NFL style. In college. You need to be transformational, even
(08:12):
though these players are like NFL players because they're getting
played paid and they're transferring. Transformational leadership lasts longer, you know.
And I wasn't great at that when I was coaching
at North Carolina, and I think I've learned to be better.
But you want to be a transformational coach. Dean Smith
was certainly a transformational coach because he coached the whole person,
(08:35):
not just the athlete.
Speaker 2 (08:36):
See this is why we love you so much. That
is such a fantastic assessment of what's going on here.
And it's also one of the really cool things about
you is you took that experience at you and C
and you looked in the mirror, you turned the mirror
on yourself, and you just said, you know, you could
have done something differently to be a more transformational coach
when you were there, And I think that that says
(08:57):
everything about the kind of human you are. How do
you think or could you train a Bill Belichick to
turn that mirror on himself and become a more transformational coach?
Or is this a he was in the NFL for
so long that you can't teach an old dog new tricks.
Speaker 1 (09:14):
Yeah. Well, there's two kinds of people that you work
with as an executive coach, fixed mindset and growth mindset,
and I would hope that he would be growth mindset.
And it was pretty cool to hear Nick Saban talk
about it on game day when he was at Michigan State.
Your life impacted by three things. The people you meet,
(09:36):
the books, you're reading the trauma in your life, and
this experience is traumatic. You know. For Bill Belichick, you
could say, oh, he's rich, he doesn't need it, he's insulated.
You know, he's still, whether you believe it or not,
probably has some feelings, right and you know this has
shaken him a little bit. So you know, if you
(09:57):
hit that point A, you're going to embrace change and
try to grow from it and learn from it. Again
in the microwave society, he might not have time to
make that adjustment because it just can be an overwhelming
sentiment that it would be tough to do that in whatever,
(10:20):
you know, five or six games he has left.
Speaker 3 (10:22):
Yeah, well you kind of led me to my last question,
and you talked about what Bill Belichick can do as
a coach right now day to day. But can you
imagine a scenario where Belichick doesn't finish the season at Carolina?
Do you think that that's a possibility here?
Speaker 1 (10:38):
Oh gosh, you know what Jordan, of you know, any
major NCAA violation or transgression, I think that from a
pride and ego and a commitment that he should finish
(10:59):
out the year, you know, and you know, maybe at
the end of the season. At the end of every season,
you reevaluate and and listen, maybe it's not a great fit.
I don't think it was a great fit from the beginning,
but maybe he's come to that realization. But I think
that reflection should be done after their last game and
(11:22):
then make a decision. You know, did I make a
mistake here? He's human like we want to we want
to you know, put these people as robots and machines.
You know, he made this move. I remember making a
move to FAU. I go from North Carolina head coach
at North Carolina National Coach of the Year to four
(11:42):
or five years later, I'm the head coach at FAU,
and I remember thinking about quitting after two months on
the job, and my wife wouldn't let me. She didn't
want me. She said, you can't do that. For your assistance,
I'm really powerful. I was going through depression and and
just like you know, the the the impact of what
(12:04):
happened to me at North Carolina finally hit me when
I was taking on this job where I didn't have
the resources and that I was used to and so
you know, that was traumatic. But I got through it
and we had a great season and I really enjoyed coaching.
So it takes time, and the self evaluation is important.
(12:27):
The most important thing a leader can know is himself,
and you know, you need people around you to be
truth tellers. Is that I hate to say it is
that Jordan is his girlfriend.
Speaker 2 (12:43):
Yeah, she's not quite your wife, you know, like.
Speaker 1 (12:46):
Not quite your wife with that wisdom of the worldly
experience at twenty four years old that my wife had.
Speaker 3 (12:52):
Maybe it's the other Jordan that he needs to talk
to you, maybe, Michael.
Speaker 1 (12:56):
Yeah. Yeah, So there's a great quote that I thought
last night and I was talking to my son and
my wife. You know, Victory has many fathers, but defeat
is an orphan. And that's a line from John F. Kennedy.
And you know that first game, it was over the top.
Yeah lt MJ. You know National TV. They go down
(13:21):
for first possession score touchdown and they think they like
people are thinking like, oh my gosh, now fans are
leaving before halftime of the game.
Speaker 3 (13:31):
Yeah, I mean, what is it?
Speaker 1 (13:33):
What is it?
Speaker 3 (13:34):
Is?
Speaker 1 (13:34):
It? Is it? Is it the first half of PCU
or is it the first half of Clemson?
Speaker 3 (13:39):
It's amazing the extremes that we're seeing here.
Speaker 5 (13:41):
Yeah, yeah, yes, it's really it's like he he didn't
set those expectations right, He's just trying to coach football
right in them you want to coach.
Speaker 3 (13:53):
Football well, and I think we talked to you about
this when they made the higher about uh, North Carolina
is going to be relevant no matter what from a
from the standpoint of interest, and that all came with it,
But I don't think many people anticipated the other intangibles
that have come with it to make it interesting too.
It's it's some of the stuff. You could never have
(14:15):
made this stuff up to go into it. But look,
we've kept you a long time. You have been very,
very candid and frank, and I appreciate your perspective, especially
with what you've been through yourself. And we direct people
to Dorty Coaching dot com executive coaching workshops keynotes. Coach
Matt Doherty is still out there every day doing great things,
and we always appreciate you letting us pick your brain
(14:35):
from time to time.
Speaker 1 (14:37):
Well that doesn't take long to pick my brain. By
the way. By the way, I'm in the car with
my wife this morning and listening to you all and
talking about bumper stickers, okay, and We're at red light.
And I've never seen this bumper sticker before, but the
car in front of me. The bumper sticker it says
(14:59):
or reads, tell your dog. I said, Hi, yes, I
it see.
Speaker 3 (15:07):
Not only did you come home with like twenty minutes
with us, you were listening last hour too. Man, you're
you're the best coach. We appreciate it all.
Speaker 1 (15:13):
I love it, Matt. All right, tell your dogs, I said, Heloe. Yes, sir,