Football
In 24 years as the Patriots head coach, Bill Belichick never appeared on a season of HBO’s Hard Knocks.
That drought will reportedly come to an end in his first year as a college head coach. Ryan Glasspiegel of Front Office Sports reports that the University of North Carolina will be the featured team on this year’s offseason version of the show.
Glasspiegel adds that NFL Films turned to the school because they could not find an NFL team willing to take part.
Previous versions of the show had cameras following teams during training camp and in-season, but 2024 brought the first look at a team going through free agency and the draft. The Giants were the featured team and their stint will be best remembered for General Manager Joe Schoen explaining to team co-owner John Mara why he wouldn’t re-sign Saquon Barkley as a free agent. Mara told Schoen how much it would bother him if Barkley signed with the Eagles, which is exactly what happened and Mara had to watch the former Giant win the Super Bowl.
The desire to avoid something similar likely contributed to the lack of interest from NFL teams, but the prospect of going behind the scenes as Belichick prepares for his first season as a college coach makes for a pretty good alternative for the series.
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