The sports world was stunned when it was reported that Bill Belichick and the University of North Carolina would supplant an NFL team to star on the offseason edition of Hard Knocks on HBO.
Alas, perhaps it was too good to be true.
Just a week after the news broke that Belichick and UNC would be the featured team as the six-time Super Bowl winning coach moves to the college game, it appears that a deal is now off.
In a statement given to CBS Sports, NFL Media confirms that they could not reach an agreement with the program to be featured on the show. Jonathan Jones adds that while the two sides were very close, apparently it fell apart due to issues around creative control.
Maybe it was just never meant to be. After weeks of talks among the University of North Carolina, head football coach Bill Belichick and NFL Films, the Tar Heels will not be the subject of HBO’s “Hard Knocks” offseason series, sources tell CBS Sports.
“NFL Films had discussions with Coach Belichick and UNC about appearing on Hard Knocks this offseason but couldn’t reach an agreement,” a spokesperson for NFL Media, which includes NFL Films, told CBS Sports on Tuesday.
As CBS Sports reported late last week, all sides felt they were close on a deal. But a contract had not been struck yet, though the belief was they’d eventually get there. Sources say creative control was at the center of the sides being unable to reach an agreement.
That piece about creative control might be the most interesting subplot here. The offseason edition of Hard Knocks was famous (or infamous) for how it painted the front office of the New York Giants, especially as it related to the fate of franchise superstar Saquon Barkley. The Giants ultimately let Barkley get away to their division rivals, the Philadelphia Eagles, where he went on to rush for 2,000 and win the Super Bowl. The Giants have been a punchline ever since. Additionally, Jones reports that it is unlikely that any NFL team will sign up for the offseason Hard Knocks at this juncture of the NFL calendar.
Bill Belichick and North Carolina wouldn’t face the same scrutiny of course, but you can imagine that someone as closely guarded as Belichick (at least from his coaching days before his year in media) would want to have complete and total control over what gets out and makes it to HBO airwaves. Of course, that would greatly reduce any entertainment in a product like Hard Knocks. With UNC GM Michael Lombardi acting as Belichick’s pitbull terrier in the media defending the program at every step, you can imagine how things might have gotten awkward if the program showed Belichick losing out on a recruit for instance.
It’s all unfortunate as an open and honest look into arguably the greatest NFL coach of all-time transitioning to the modern college game would have made for appointment viewing. Sadly, that’s not going to materialize. The offseason Hard Knocks with the Giants, as unflattering as it was for the team, was some of the most compelling sports documentary programming we’ve seen in some time. And now we are left to wonder if anyone will ever agree again to come under the microscope of an offseason Hard Knocks.
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