Locker room fight among 2 players, 'toxic' environment and report of a coach suspended: Inside Bill Belichick's divided UNC program
>> THANK YOU FOR BEING WITH US
HERE TONIGHT. I'M ASHLEY WROTE
AND I'M GERALD OWENS. WE BEGIN
AT UNC REPORTS OF A LOCKER ROOM
FIGHT A FEELING OF
EMBARRASSMENT FROM THE PLAYER'S
FAMILIES.
>> COACHES DISAPPEARANCE FROM
PRACTICE ALL OF THAT IS NEW
INFORMATION WE'RE HEARING FROM
SOURCES IN THE LAST 24 HOURS.
WR IS PAT WELTER BROKE THIS
STORY ON MONDAY. HE JOINS US
LIVE. THAT THIS STORY JUST
SEEMS TO BE CHANGING BY THE
HOUR.
>> YEAH, I JUST CONTINUE TO
WORK THE PHONES CONTINUE TRYING
TO LEARN MORE ABOUT WHAT'S
GOING ON INSIDE BILL BELICHECK
PROGRAM AND CHAPEL HILL AND THE
PARENTS OF A PLAYER TOLD ME
THIS MORNING THAT HER SON
DOESN'T LIKE GOING TO THE
FACILITY RIGHT NOW BECAUSE
THINGS OUR THAT TOXIC. SO WE
HAVE NEW INFORMATION RIGHT NOW
REGARDING A DIVIDED LOCKER
ROOM, A SERIOUS INJURY TO ONE
OF BILL BELICHECK, MOST PRIZE
RECRUITS AND A REPORT FROM
TARGET 2, 4, 7 ABOUT
DECISION-MAKERS LOOKING INTO A
POTENTIAL EXIT STRATEGY
>> WE REPORTED IN OUR
INVESTIGATION MONDAY, CITING
NEARLY A DOZEN SOURCES THAT
BILL BELICHICK COACHING IN
CULTURE HAS LED TO A DIVIDED
THE 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 IN A
LOCKER ROOM DIVIDED BY MATT
BROWN ERA PLAYERS FIRST
BELICHECK RECRUITS ACCORDING
TO SOURCES, BELICHECK RECRUITS
HAVE RECEIVED PREFERENTIAL
TREATMENT. ONE PLAYER
REPEATEDLY NAMED BY SOURCES AS
QUARTERBACK THAT HE'S DIXON,
ACCORDING TO SOURCES, DIXON
POTENTIALLY OUT FOR THE SEASON
AFTER INJURY, HE SUFFERED IN
THE CLEMSON GAME. UNC HAS NOT
CONFIRMED HIS STATUS. THE TEAM
ISN'T REQUIRED TO FILE AN
INJURY REPORT UNTIL NEXT WEEK.
MEANWHILE, CORNERBACKS COACH
COLEMAN HAWKINS WAS SUSPENDED
TUESDAY ACCORDING TO THE
ATHLETIC, WHICH IS OWNED BY THE
NEW YORK TIMES FOR BENEFITS
ALLEGATIONS WHICH CAME TO LIGHT
FROM WRAL'S INVESTIGATION.
BUT SOURCES TELL US THE PLAYERS
WERE TOLD IN THE MEETING
TUESDAY THAT HAWKINS WOULD MISS
PRACTICE FOR PERSONAL BUSINESS.
>> NOW, WRAL HAS REACHED OUT
TO HAWKINS DIRECTLY. HE
DECLINED TO COMMENT. AND THEN
TO THIS REPORT FROM TAR HEEL,
2, 4, 7, WHERE THEY SAY THAT
UNC DECISION MAKERS HAVE LOOKED
INTO EXIT STRATEGIES WHEN IT
COMES TO BILL BELICHECK.
I'VE REACHED OUT TO SEVERAL
SOURCES WITHIN THE UNC ATHLETIC
DEPARTMENT TRYING TO CONFIRM
THIS. THEY HAVE NOT COMMENTED
BACK YET. SO WE'RE STILL
WORKING THAT STORY AS WELL.
STAY ON IT HERE. CHARLOTTE, A
HOW ABOUT THE REPORT. ALL
RIGHT, PAT, THANK YOU.
>> WRAL IS REPORTING ON BILL
BELICHECK SLACKER ROOM
IMMEDIATELY TOOK OFF ONLINE.
THAT'S FOR STORY BROKE MONDAY
AT 06:00PM. SINCE THEN, OUR
TEAM HAS UNCOVERED NEW
INFORMATION RELATED TO THE UNC
FOOTBALL PROGRAM AS IT RELATES
TO THE LOCKER ROOM DIVIDE.
OUR STORIES HAVE BEEN VIEWED
MORE THAN 361,000 TIMES ON
EITHER OUR WEBSITE OR WRAL NEWS
APP. OUR COVERAGE DOESN'T STOP
HERE. COMING UP IN SPORTS, PAT
HAS MORE ON WHAT WE'RE LEARNING
ABOUT THE FALLOUT THAT AT 7