Bill Belichick can't, or won't, put an end to a rash of player driving violations

Under coach Bill Belichick, the North Carolina Tar Heels are struggling to win on the field. Off the field, the players have caused ongoing concern regarding the manner in which they drive, and park, their NIL-financed vehicles.

A new report from WRAL looks at the various issues related to speeding, reckless driving, and parking in places where they shouldn't be parking (such as spots reserved for people with disabilities).

Pushing the matter internally is professor Mark Peifer, who has been peppering North Carolina Athletic Director Bubba Cunningham with complaints about the situation.

“Is there no one who can rein in these players, probably only a subset of the football team, who are tarnishing the reputation of our school and of all Carolina athletes?” Peifer wrote in a recent email to Cunningham, per the WRAL report.

Cunningham told Peifer in an April 2026 email, “I don’t know how many more times I can apologize. Disappointing to say the least.”

One player, per the report, has been cited four times for speeding and two times for reckless driving since arriving at the Chapel Hill campus in January 2026. Another player has received three citations since February; on one occasion, he was allegedly driving in excess of 100 miles per hour.

Belichick was asked about the situation by WRAL in November 2025.

“Our conduct outside of the building, outside of the program, is important to us, and we stress that,” Belichick said at the time. “We’ve addressed multiple things, not just that. There are other things that go on, besides driving, that we’ve talked about absolutely."

Talking apparently hasn't solved the problem. And Peifer now believes Cunningham has no power to fix it.

“I thought [Cunningham] actually was probably right up there with the chancellor and running the university, but I found out when I wrote to him that he doesn’t have any control over the football program anymore,” Peifer told WRAL. “He clearly was frustrated and ultimately angry about this behavior and didn’t seem to be able to change it.”