Brian Murphy is based in Raleigh and his title is Sports Investigative Reporter for WRAL TV.
Of late there's been a lot to investigate at North Carolina's football program as Bill Belichick operates in a shroud of secrecy so thick that his players didn't have jersey numbers during the Tar Heels' recent spring game.
In addition, Belichick's 24-year-old girlfriend has taken on a strange role within the football program as she regularly scrutinizes UNC's communications staff for not doing a better job protecting the image of Belichick and those below him (including Bill's son Steve, the Tar Heels' defensive coordinator).
Here is an excerpt from Murphy's coverage of a spring game that was not remotely like most spring games:
No numbers on the jerseys for any player throughout spring or in Saturday's final practice.
No player interviews throughout spring or after Saturday's final practice.
No assistant coach interviews throughout spring or after Saturday's final practice.
Belichick spoke to the media near the beginning of spring practice ... and not again. Not even at the end of Saturday's event. Didn’t even pick up the microphone to thank everyone for coming out or tell them how important their presence this fall would be.
"It's wild," Murphy said on the podcast. "North Carolina has made a huge bet on football, and if their football program isn't generating the revenue they want it to generate then the whole athletic program is going to sink. They've decided they can't be a basketball school anymore and that every school is a football school. That, to me, is fascinating.
"If Clemson or Georgia does that it's one thing. But for a school like North Carolina to openly say 'We cannot be a basketball school' is a fascinating experiment. I don't know if they're going to be proven right or wrong, but that's the path they've chosen."
Murphy, a graduate of UNC, is a former newspaper sportswriter who covered Georgia Tech during the Chan Gailey era before moving to Boise and having a front-row seat to the Broncos' incredible rise to football prominence.
He was there for Boise State's unforgettable 43-42 triumph over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.
Before moving back to his roots in Raleigh he lived in Washington D.C., where he covered Congress for the News & Observer of Raleigh.
Brian Murphy interview
And here are the previous two in case you missed them:
Joey Batson
Ricky Sapp
