CHAPEL HILL, N.C. -- Just minutes before taking the stage at the ACC's annual kickoff event at the Hilton Charlotte Uptown, Bill Belichick scrolled through his phone, reviewing his notes at a table in a dark service corridor as hotel employees stacked plates and glasses around. He had been shuffled through back hallways by conference and school staffers hoping to avoid the majority of the more than 800 media members gathered in an adjacent ballroom, all eager to photograph, question or simply glimpse college football's biggest celebrity, but the spotlight awaited.
This is the new normal for North Carolina.