Speculation keeps swirling around Bill Belichick’s future , but his public posture has not budged. Even as insiders like Tom Pelissero suggest the door to an NFL return is not fully closed, the North Carolina football team head coach continues to shoot down links to vacancies such as the Giants' job and repeats that his focus remains on the Tar Heels.

That same message came through differently when ESPN approached him for a feature on his first college season . Belichick declined to sit for an in-person interview but did respond to several questions by email, including one about navigating the new, chaotic NCAA world in which “every player is an annual free agent.”

His answer was classic Belichick: short, blunt, and rooted in process. He said he tries to be as honest as possible

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