The North Carolina football program may now add NCAA rules violations to a growing list of blunders during Bill Belichick’s troubled first season in Chapel Hill. 

This week, UNC cornerbacks coach Armond Hawkins was suspended for offering extra benefits to a player, including sideline passes for the player’s family, according to a report from The Athletic. 

The suspension happened after a WRAL report detailed dysfunction and said players were selling the tickets allotted to them. Subsequently, the outlet reported that a UNC compliance officer sent a text to players telling them that selling tickets violates NCAA rules.

It’s the latest in a series of unfortunate events for the Tar Heels since the season began. 

Belichick’s hire was first announced last December. At the time, there was plenty of optimism—and media coverage, including news of a Hulu documentary series—surrounding Belichick’s debut. (Though even then, reports surrounding the presence and control exerted by his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, raised eyebrows and brought about questions of potential distractions.) 

But the situation in Chapel Hill has not gone as planned. It opened with an embarrassing 48–14 loss to TCU. So far, the Tar Heels have notched two wins and three losses. They’ve had the worst start against Power 4 opponents since the team was founded in 1888 with three losses to TCU, UCF, and Clemson. Together, those losses add up to an 87-point margin, per data from USA Today.

In addition to the drama caused by the WRAL report released Monday, Hulu reportedly canceled its documentary series on the Tar Heels, Inside Carolina, this week. On Wednesday, 247 Sports reported exit-strategy discussions had taken place on campus. 

Both Belichick and UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham released statements Wednesday night, each expressing continued commitment to one another and to the program. “I’m fully committed to UNC Football and the program we’re building here,” Belichick said. And Cunningham noted, “Coach Belichick has the full support of the Department of Athletics and the University.”

Belichick is currently on a five-year, $50 million contract at UNC with a $20.8 million buyout, per USA Today’s database.

Representatives for UNC and the NCAA did not immediately respond to Front Office Sports’s request for comment.

Now that Oilers superstar Connor McDavid has signed his contract extension with Edmonton, other player deals are quickly falling into place around the NHL. 

McDavid completed a two-year, $25 million pact on Monday with the Oilers, resolving a summer full of uncertainty surrounding the three-time Most Valuable Player. As McDavid signed a team-friendly pact designed to extend Edmonton’s window to compete for a Stanley Cup, he also easily could have pushed the envelope much further on the NHL’s salary scale—similar to what the Wild’s Kirill Kaprizov did last week in a record-setting $136 million pact.

With McDavid’s deal in place, other newly minted contracts include:

• An eight-year, $108 million extension between Jack Eichel and the Golden Knights, keeping him with Vegas through the 2033–34 season. Already a Stanley Cup winner, Eichel often has been linked and compared with McDavid since being selected second behind him in the 2015 NHL draft. 
• An eight-year, $96 million deal between the Jets and forward Kyle Connor, which is the largest player contract in franchise history. The agreement also represents a major statement by owner Mark Chipman on the Jets’ future as the team competes in the NHL’s smallest market but is looking to follow up on last year’s Presidents’ Trophy.  
• The Oilers signed defenseman Jake Walman to a seven-year, $49 million extension. 
• Edmonton also signed defenseman Mattias Ekholm to a three-year, $12 million extension as the Oilers move with urgency between now and 2028, when the McDavid deal expires.

“Two years makes a lot of sense, gives us a chance to continue to chase down what we’ve been chasing down here with the core guys who have been here,” McDavid said after signing his agreement. “A little bit of money [for the team] to work with, too. I think the deal makes sense for both sides.”

The contracts also seek to take advantage, at least to some degree, of a fast-rising NHL salary cap that reflects the growing strength of the league as it begins the 2025–26 season this week.

With the run of signings, a 2026 free-agency class that could have included McDavid, Eichel, Connor, and Kaprizov (and would have been unprecedented in its star power) is now substantially altered. 

The NCAA is allowing Division I athletes to bet on professional sports. 

On Wednesday, the NCAA Division I Administrative Committee adopted a proposal that allows both athletes and athletic department employees to bet on professional sports. The shift was endorsed by the Division I Student-Athlete Advisory Committee. 

The rule change must be approved by all three NCAA divisions. D-II and D-III are expected to consider the same proposal in their respective meetings at the end of the month, the NCAA said in its release. If approved by both, the act would go into effect Nov. 1. 

The change comes while the NCAA is dealing with a federal gambling probe that has impacted six schools and thirteen athletes facing potential gambling violations. In September, the NCAA banned three basketball players (two from Fresno State and one from San Jose State) after it was discovered they had manipulated their performances in a prop betting scheme.

NCAA officials said the change is not an endorsement of sports gambling, and they remain aware of the risks that come with it. College athletes and staff are still forbidden from gambling on college sports. 

“The Administrative Committee was clear in its discussion today that it remains concerned about the risks associated with all forms of sports gambling but ultimately voted to reduce restrictions on student-athletes in this area to better align with their campus peers,” said Illinois AD and committee chair Josh Whitman. 

“This change allows the NCAA, the conferences, and the member schools to focus on protecting the integrity of college games while, at the same time, encouraging healthy habits for student-athletes who choose to engage in betting activities on professional sports.”

As the NCAA moves forward with significant changes to the college football transfer portal, it’s adding another new wrinkle around coaching shifts.

As expected, the Division I Administrative Committee on Tuesday approved the elimination of the spring transfer portal window for football, which is effective following the conclusion of meetings Wednesday. 

However, the committee also approved a proposal for changes to the transfer window exception for football head coach changes. 

Here’s what the changes look like:

Outgoing transfer portal rules

• Two windows in the winter (Dec. 9–28) and spring (April 16–25)
• Exception: 30-day window opening immediately after any head coaching change

New transfer portal rules

• Single transfer window Jan. 2–11
• Exception: 15-day window beginning five days after a new coach is hired or announced

Players on teams competing in the College Football Playoff, which this season runs Dec. 19 to Jan. 19, will continue to have a five-day window to enter the portal following their last postseason game, as was the case last year.

What the Changes Mean

The elimination of the spring portal window and shortening of the new single winter time frame are mostly seen as positive by head coaches around the country. The changes should help create a less chaotic start to the postseason, as December bowl games and the beginning of the College Football Playoff can play out without mass portal exoduses, as was the case last season. Although the changes won’t prevent players from sitting out in anticipation of eventually entering the portal.

As for the coaching change exception, the new policy means players whose coaches get fired midseason will have to wait weeks and potentially months for the school to announce a new hire before entering the portal. 

Power 4 programs that have fired their coach since the start of this season include UCLA, Virginia Tech, Oklahoma State, and Arkansas. Players from those teams will be grandfathered into the old system, as they are already in their respective 30-day transfer-eligible periods.