Mina Kimes pulls no punches in her harsh criticism of Bill Belichick and UNC football

The UNC football program continues to be a hot topic of conversation on the airwaves and despite a public show of support from AD Bubba Cunningham and a declaration of commitment from Bill Belichick, it feels like we're counting the days until this experiment is over.

​ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes brought a bit of a different take when discussing Belichick on 'First Take' this morning. Instead of focusing on the Tar Heels struggles on the field, she questioned Belichick's ability to handle more of the logistical side of running a program.

Kimes believes that if Belichick had to just focus on football, he could eventually turn things around on the field.

"I'm not saying he's going to get fired mid-season. We'll see. I feel like they will play this out, but to me, it's really hard to sell this as anything other than a failure," Kimes said. "And I want to be clear, it's not because of football. It's not because they are getting routed... I do believe he has the ability to turn that around."

The program has to be bigger than the coach

Kimes instead discusses Belichick's ability to run the other elements of the program and says that Belichick's comments earlier this season about not allowing scouts from the Patriots to attend UNC games does a disservice to his players. 

""He, to me, has shown that he shouldn't be running a college program. When you hear reports like Patriots scouts aren't allowed to come to games because of the pettiness. That, to me, is far more damning than what we're seeing on the football field.""

ESPN NFL analyst Mina Kimes

Kimes points come across strongly and the prevailing thought is that UNC football can't just be about Bill Belichick and making him happy. It has to be about the players that come through the program. They trust that the coach will look out for their best interests and put them in the best positions to succeed. Tar Heels football can't simply be Belichick's vehicle to help him try to get back at his former team.

And lastly, Kimes talked about the fact that Belichick has not put together a good coaching staff. The staff includes two of his sons. Steve Belichick is the defensive coordinator and Brian Belichick is the defensive backs coach. Matt Lombardi, son of UNC football general manager Michael Lombardi, is the quarterbacks coach. The instances of nepotism give Kimes the impression that Bill Belichick isn't taking this job seriously.

"College football is different than the NFL. When you go in there you are not just coaching players between the lines. You are running an entire program. He has staffed it poorly, with nepotism and things like that. He has run it poorly. You've got parents complaining as well. I don't see that turning around," Kimes concluded.