Bill Belichick will not attend UNC’s bowl game at Fenway Park

BOSTON – It was only fitting that Bill Belichick’s new team – the North Carolina Tar Heels – was playing a bowl game at Fenway Park when the future Hall of Famer was set to take over the program. Belichick could have returned to the region where he won six Super Bowl titles with the Patriots and watched his new team in historic surroundings.

Unfortunately, Belichick will not be in attendance when the Tar Heels play the UConn Huskies in the Fenway Bowl on Saturday, as ESPN’s Pete Thamel first reported. According to North Carolina athletic director Bubba Cunningham, the new UNC head coach also has a good reason.

Why isn’t Bill Belichick attending the Fenway Bowl?

Belichick has worked hard to build the North Carolina program since its inception was introduced as the new head coach on December 12th. But Belichick and general manager Mike Lombardi did this behind the scenes and not in public.

Belichick did not attend Tar Heels practice before Saturday’s game because he did not want to distract the team. According to Cunningham, he’s skipping the Fenway Bowl for the same reason.

“He’s completely focused on building the roster,” Cunningham told ESPN. “He didn’t want to go to practice or distract the kids or coaches at the bowl game.”

Belichick would certainly be a distraction at Fenway Park, as it would have been his first public appearance in the New England area since he and the Patriots parted ways last January. Belichick spent 24 seasons as the Patriots’ head coach, leading the franchise to unprecedented success, winning six Super Bowl titles and 296 total games.

Now he wants to build a successful program in North Carolina.

“It was great. “He and Mike Lombardi locked themselves in a room and really spent the entire time since his announcement building the roster for this spring and next year,” Cunningham added.

Interim coach Freddie Kitchens will be on the sidelines for the Tar Heels on Saturday and will join Belichick’s staff permanently after the game.