A Report Out of NC Reveals Belichick Has Built His Roster Around Guys With Speed. Just Not the Kind You'd Want.

I'll bet anything that Bill Belichick, history buff that he is, is familiar with the line from Patton where Ol' Blood & Guts says, "Americans love a winner. And will not tolerate a loser." Even though that never really applied to him. In his case, the more he won, the more resentment the entire nation threw at him. Americans respected him, for sure. Grudgingly. But love? That only came from the pasty, less-attractive, rowdy bunch of loyal assholes in the upper right hand corner of the contiguous 48. 

And so with his Tar Heels sitting at 4-6, 2-4 in the ACC, and needing to run the table vs. Duke in Chapel Hill and at NC State in order to squeak into the Wasabi Fenway Bowl, it's only natural that the media would focus on the negative. It comes with the territory when you're the 9th ranked team in your conference. And made worse when your program promoted itself as "The 33rd NFL Team."

So of course they're going to drill down on his little personality quirks, like giving shitty postgame handshakes. Because while that was sort of endearing to New Englanders when he was expressing his pure disgust for Fredo Mangini, it's less so when you just lost to Wake Forest. Then you're just begging for the caption "Dickert and the Dick." 

And with the media jackals smelling Belichick's blood and looking to scavenge a meal on his carcass, it's also to be expected they'll accuse him of building his roster around undesirables. Of putting winning above character. Turning a blind eye to his players indiscretions as long as they could help him. And now they're going back to that old playbook. 

By way of background,  almost two years ago a UNC student was killed in a 124 mph crash in which a Tar Heels player was following in his own car after drinking. So schools in the area were supposed to be cracking down on such reckless, criminal behavior. Guess which one seems to have done the least.:

WRAL -  An alarming trend has surfaced among college football players at the University of North Carolina, raising concerns about the driving habits of these young athletes and the potential risks they pose to themselves and the community. 

                                                                                                                                                                                     

A joint investigation by WRAL Sports and WRAL Investigates found a significant portion of the UNC football roster has received speeding and/or reckless driving charges over the past year. 

In stark contrast, NC State's larger roster of 124 players recorded only 10 speeding citations and two reckless driving charges, while Duke saw minimal infractions with only two players charged with speeding.

                                                                                                                                                                                     

The gravity of these offenses cannot be overlooked, especially in light of past tragedies within the collegiate sports community. ...

WRAL asked football officials if any driving safety classes are required, whether players are required to report when they get tickets and whether any player has been disciplined for trouble on the road. We gave the school two days to answer those questions. UNC acknowledged WRAL's question but chose not to respond.

                                                                                                                                                                                     

Particularly concerning is the case of Khmori House, a recent transfer from the University of Washington, who has accumulated five speeding and four reckless driving charges within a short span. 

                                                                                                                                                                                     

On two of the citations, the law enforcement officers noted House's Dodge Charger "must be too much car for him," and that his repeated infractions are no longer a mistake, but a behavioral problem. 

Singling out Khmori House is particularly interesting, since he's a linebacker who followed Steve Belichick from Washington to Chapel Hill. And we're just over a year from watching the Apple TV docuseries The Dynasty, which spent an entire episode suggesting that Belichick the Elder was basically Aaron Hernandez's unindicted co-conspirator. Now his son is going to look like he's actively recruiting the worst of the worst. Like Rick Flag putting The Suicide Squad together, with no regard for public safety. 

Welcome to college sports, Coach Bill. Where you're trying to control the immature impluses of over 100 testosterone-fueled adrenaline junkies, most of them in their teens, don't have fully formed brains yet, and think they're immortal. And unlike your former pro players, you can't dock their pay or trade them to the Browns when they get out of line. 

And the world is already accusing you of harboring criminals in order to further your career. So the first time one of these recruits T-bones a family's SUV on the way to church in the morning, we all know who's getting the blame. I hope it doesn't happen that way, obviously. And that Belichick succeeds in bringing his program to the BCS Playoffs, at least. I just don't know if this will ever be worth it to him. His reputation has suffered enough.