A former leader at the University of North Carolina is suing the school’s current board of trustees – accusing them of illegally hiring head football coach Bill Belichick.
Chris Clemens, a former provost at the school, and his lawyer David McKenzie filed the suit in Orange County Superior Court – alleging the hiring of the 73-year-old head coach occurred in a closed session.
The suit alleges that UNC leadership have a ‘pattern and practice’ of hiding ‘matters of grave public concern behind closed doors.’
Clemens additionally alleges he was punished for ‘leaking closed-session information’ to faculty about a meeting with tenure deferral as a central topic in the lawsuit.
‘As Executive Vice Chancellor and Provost, [Clemens] briefed deans and vice chancellors internally about the Board’s tenure policy posture after a closed session so they could manage faculty expectations,’ the lawsuit reads.
‘The Board’s subsequent effort to punish him for “leaking” closed-session information only highlights the culture of secrecy at odds with the Open Meetings Law and Public Records Law.’
A former provost of the University of North Carolina is suing the school, alleging that they hired head football coach Bill Belichick in a closed-door meeting last December
Belichick (seen here with girlfriend Jordon Hudson) was hired in secret, a lawsuit claims
On the matter of hiring Belichick, the lawsuit claims that ‘substantive deliberation occurred in secret’ on December 12, 2024, in an emergency meeting of the board.
The lawsuit claims that since Belichick’s ‘compensation package and entire hiring was already public,’ there wasn’t a need for a closed session.
‘The Board did not present any comparable thirty-year ‘net present cost’ analysis, nor did it invoke long-horizon fiscal restraint to defer that decision for a single UNC employee,’ the lawsuit states.
In addition to Belichick, the suit also divulges closed sessions in November 2023 which discussed the Tar Heels’ future in the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC) and compared its standing in the conference to ‘potential financial outcomes with SEC or Big Ten membership.’
The filing claims that another secret session to discuss conference realignment occurred in May 2024.
‘The Board again used closed session to debate conference realignment strategy and athletics department finances,’ the lawsuit reads.
‘There is no statutory exemption that permits closed discussion of institutional affiliations and budget planning.
‘Each episode follows the same pattern: the Board invokes a statutory exemption, enters closed session, then discusses broad policy or budget matters that must be debated publicly.
Belichick’s start to his time in Chapel Hill hasn’t gone to plan, with the coach sitting at 2-2
‘The Board compounds these violations by maintaining inadequate general accounts that prevent public understanding of what transpired.’
When Belichick’s closed session occurred, it lasted 41 minutes and ultimately led to his hiring and the hiring of Damon Nahas as the women’s soccer head coach.
The suit says that Belichick was hired at a salary of $10million per season, with more compensation to bring his sons Steve and Brian onto his coaching staff. It also claims the his hiring will lead to ‘total exposure well into the tens of millions over five years.’
Belichick has had a mediocre start to his tenure in Chapel Hill. He opened his season with a loss to TCU, beat UNC Charlotte and Richmond, and then just lost 34-9 to UCF last week.
North Carolina is on a bye this week. They will then welcome the struggling traditional powerhouse Clemson on October 4.
