Amid a disastrous start to Bill Belichick's first season as coach of the North Carolina football team, rumors began earlier this month that Belichick and the program were potentially talking about an exit strategy for him to leave the program.

The Tar Heels have gotten off to a 2–5 start under Belichick, and between blowout losses, banning Patriots scouts from attending team practices, reports of defensive coordinator Steve Belichick barely talking to players and reports of general manager Michael Lombardi being "rude," Belichick's tenure in Chapel Hill could not have begun on a worse note.

Shortly after those initial rumors swirled, Belichick and athletic director Bubba Cunningham released statements confirming Belichick's commitment to the program and UNC's support for him.

Since those statements, the Tar Heels have played better, coming close to wins against Cal and No. 15 Virginia. Though they lost both games, it was impressive for them to force overtime against Virginia and nearly come away with the victory, especially compared to how they had performed vs. power conference competition.

On Tuesday during Belichick's press conference, a reporter noted that players saw when Belichick made it clear he was staying as the time things started coming together for them. The reporter then asked if Belichick has seen a different team since he's clarified his commitment to UNC.

"It's never been anything but that. Whoever that story came from, it's already been taken down and everything else," Belichick responded. "It's just total—as Trump would say—fake news. It's just a novel. Look, our consistency has been here since the day that Michael Lombardi and I came in and started hiring people and came into the organization in December. We got in the same day and have been doing it everyday and that's the way it's gonna be. I'm sure there's a lot of other people that want to get clicks and views and posts on 'myface' or whatever. It's just a bunch of garbage."

Belichick clearly didn't like the insinuation that his commitment was ever is doubt and his team is playing better since he's released his statement, even though players have suggested that period was a turning point for them.

Regardless of what led to the team's progress since their loss to Clemson and Belichick initially shutting down those rumors, UNC has shown improvements over their last two games. They will look to turn that into their win of the season—and in over a month—when they take on Syracuse this Friday.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Bill Belichick Has Blunt Response to 'Garbage' Rumors Questioning UNC Commitment.

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