UNC, Belichick won't be on Hard Knocks after deal falls through

We won't see Bill Belichick and North Carolina on a special version of HBO's Hard Knocks after all, as the two sides couldn't reach an agreement.

James Parks | Mar 4, 2025

Hard Knocks will not feature Bill Belichick and the North Carolina football program after the deal fell through. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Bill Belichick and the North Carolina football program won’t participate in the offseason version of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” program after the deal fell through, according to CBS Sports.

NFL Films had talks with Belichick and Carolina about taking part in the show, but the two sides couldn’t reach an agreement, an NFL Media spokesman told CBS.

Creative control was the sticking point between the two sides that prevented them from coming to an agreement, according to the report.

CBS reports that an NFL Films employee was seen in the North Carolina football facility in recent weeks, and that were was some interest in the program about filming the show there.

North Carolina football general manager Michael Lombardi also seemed to confirm that there was interest from the program in being featured on the show.

“There’s a lot of conversations going on right now about that,” Lombardi said in comments to The Pat McAfee Show.

“We’ve had a lot of offers from people all over to come in and look at our program and kind of do the behind-the-scenes things, but I don’t think anything’s yet been official or signed.”

Despite not being featured on Hard Knocks, there is still some interest from North Carolina to take part in some kind of behind-the-scenes program to gain some national exposure for the program.

North Carolina was HBO’s selection for the second season of their offseason program after the New York Giants were featured in the first series.

But no NFL team elected to take part in the second season of the show, inspiring HBO to turn to a college football subject, and none was more interesting than Belichick joining UNC.

Belichick’s arrival at North Carolina was a bombshell that surprised college football, as the former eight-time Super Bowl champion declared his intention to remake the program in the image of an NFL organization.

“Hard Knocks” expanded its series to show football teams taking part in training camp, and following them during the season and in the offseason, as well.

But it appears North Carolina will not be the subject of its forthcoming series.

(HBO)

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