Bill Belichick's first college football season has been a rollercoaster. His UNC Tar Heels got absolutely smoked in Week 1 by TCU, then managed to bounce back with a Week 2 win over Charlotte. But that victory has been almost completely overshadowed by Belichick's postgame comments in which he confirmed his decision to ban New England Patriots scouts from team facilities because he is not welcome in Foxborough anymore.

It was expected that Belichick's debut season in the NCAA would be worth watching but few expected it to be this kind of circus. Which has opened up the longtime head coach to criticism beyond how his team is performing on the field. To that point, college football media guru Paul Finebaum tore into Belichick on the Rich Eisen Show on Wednesday, calling the head coach "petty and small-minded" before blasting his Patriots ban as "downright stupid."

"I want to be a fan of Bill Belichick but he makes it impossible," Finebaum told Eisen. "The first game was just an absolute and total disaster, on the biggest stage he probably— not probably, will ever have at North Carolina. The second game meant nothing. I mean they're playing at Charlotte. Not exactly the bastion of college football.

"I think he'll struggle. I think his comments this week make it even more difficult. Why do you have to continue to be Bill Belichick? I guess maybe because you're 73 years old. But to say what he did about locking the Patriots out, it's just downright stupid... In deference to your players, you can't say that. You want to open the door. But Bill Belichick has always been a petty, small-minded man."

Harsh words from the ESPN personality.

It's set to be a long season in Chapel Hill. If the TCU blowout loss was any indication Belichick's roster isn't ready to compete with high-level opponents, but there will still be plenty of focus on the Tar Heels.

More surprising is the head coach's apparent willingness to embrace off-field controversy, which has been abundant since he took this job. His relationship with Jordon Hudson has consistently created headlines for months and now he doesn't seem interested in quashing the Patriots' controversy, either. It's a rather shocking change of pace from Belichick after so many years of doing whatever he could to minimize those distractions in New England.

Should that continue as the season goes on, and should UNC continue to struggle, this rant from Finebaum won't be the last fiery speech given on television criticizing Belichick.

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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Paul Finebaum Hammers Bill Belichick for 'Downright Stupid' Move to Ban Patriots Scouts.

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