Former UW Coach Reportedly Suspended at North Carolina

Armond Hawkins has been accused of providing improper game field access to a player's family members.

Armond Hawkins, defensive analyst, runs the Husky linebackers through a 2024 spring drill. | Skylar Lin Visuals

Armond Hawkins worked as a defensive analyst for Jedd Fisch's University of Washington football team in 2024, wisely using that role as a springboard to join Bill Belichick's new North Carolina staff as a full-time coach.

Yet the cornerbacks assistant now finds himself in the headlines with the Tar Heels for the wrong reasons, reportedly getting suspended for giving a player's family members field access during a recent game, which runs counter to NCAA rules.

Hawkins' situation was first reported by Bruce Feldman of the Athletic. The school has not addressed the situation publicly nor has Belichick commented on it.

A former Idaho cornerback, Hawkins, 30, first went to work for Fisch in 2023 at Arizona as an assistant director of recruiting and a defensive analyst, and followed him to Montlake last year.

After working closely with then-Husky defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, he used that relationship to help land the Tar Heels cornerbacks job.

UW players seemed to enjoy the young coach's enthusiastic and participatory style in which he would run with the ball and encourage tacklers to wrap him up.

In January, Hawkins left the UW for North Carolina accompanied by four former Huskies in sophomore linebacker Khmori House, senior cornerback Thaddeus Dixon, sophomore safety Peyton Waters and redshirt freshman wide receiver Jason Robinson Jr.

However, Chapel Hill hasn't been a positive football experience for any of them, with the Tar Heels losing three of their first five games, each in a lopsided manner, amid claims that the locker room has become divided under Belichick.

In particular, the North Carolina secondary has been a disaster, with Hawkins and safeties coach Brian Belichick, another son of the head coach, watching Clemson throw five touchdown passes over their defensive backs before halftime of Saturday's 38-10 loss.

Hawkins emerged from Rancho Cucamonga High School in Southern California and appeared in 44 games at Idaho, starting 18.

For the Vandals, he finished with 129 career tackles, including eight tackles for loss, and had 2 interceptions, 3 forced fumbles, 5 fumble recoveries and 9 passes broken up. He graduated from the school in 2017.

Besides the UW and Arizona, he previously worked at Colorado and USC in assorted recruiting roles.

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