It seems that it is no longer a good time to be one of Bill Belichick's special guys. Following the old-timer's disastrous first season at North Carolina, changes are underway. According to multiple reports, Belichick is firing offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens and special teams coordinator Mike "Nuke The Gays" Priefer.
Kitchens and Priefer were among the cadre of washouts and football sons for whom UNC became a work program under Belichick. Kitchens was the Tar Heels' offensive coordinator during Mack Brown's final season in charge, but survived Brown's firing and was allowed to keep his position under Belichick, no doubt due to their long-standing relationship. Priefer, on the other hand, was entering his third year of unemployment when Belichick came along and offered him a lifeline.
Those turned out to be bad decisions by Belichick. The Tar Heels were sloppy on special teams all season, and had one of the worst offenses in the country. Under Belichick's and Kitchens's guidance, UNC averaged 288.8 yards of offense per game (131st nationally) and just 19.3 points per game (121st nationally). Truly, and for possibly the last time ever: More like Freddie Bathrooms.
Kitchens and Priefer may feel like the scapegoats for Belichick's own failures, but that's life as a hanger-on. There was a time when getting cozy in Belichick's shadow was as lucrative a career move as any coach in the NFL could make, but those were the old days. Back when Belichick was stacking Super Bowls, proximity to him was all you needed to earn two or three disastrous years in an undeserved head coaching gig. But now that he's a bumbling college coach who spends more time writing defensive emails about his shitty book than he does scheming blitz packages, the only thing being close to him does is mark you as a potential fall guy.
Maybe this will all work out for UNC, and Belichick will look outside his circle to bring in an offensive coordinator and special teams coach who can actually help turn the program around. Mad kings don't tend to get less mad as things get worse around them, though, so don't be surprised if Joe Judge and a previously unknown nephew of Mike Lombardi are standing on the Tar Heels sideline next season.
