“It’s clear I’m not welcome there at their facility. So they’re not welcome at ours. It’s pretty simple.” The words have been bouncing around loudly from Chapel Hill to Foxborough. Bill Belichick’s decision to restrict New England Patriots scouts from the UNC campus has turned a simmering feud into football’s latest spectacle. The message is crystal clear: Belichick’s not about to let old employer-turned-rival come sniffing around for talent or trade secrets. And especially after being fired. But wait, that’s not the whole story.

Robert Kraft, the billionaire business-savvy owner of the Patriots, had said in a June podcast that hiring Belichick back in 2000 was a gamble. But on the surface, Kraft spun it with polished diplomacy—publicly saying it was a “mutual” parting of ways. Afte

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