As UNC football players amass speeding tickets, Bill Belichick addresses behavior
AI-generated summary reviewed by our newsroom.
- Court record review found roughly 20% of UNC players cited for traffic violations.
- Court checks showed 31 speeding and 10 reckless driving charges on roster.
- Belichick said staff stress conduct but did not specify reporting or discipline.
UNC football coach Bill Belichick addressed a recent WRAL story — one that found roughly one in five Tar Heel football players had been cited for speeding or reckless driving since October — at his Wednesday press conference ahead of North Carolina’s game against Duke this weekend.
“Our conduct outside the building, outside of the program, is important to us,” Belichick said when asked about the WRAL report on Wednesday, “and we stress that.”
The WRAL report published Monday examined court records for UNC’s 101-player roster dating back to October. The review found 31 speeding citation and 10 reckless driving charges, many involving players recruited by Belichick.
A News & Observer review of court documents found 19 players currently on the roster who have been cited for myriad traffic violations since last year. While there were a number of speeding charges, a few of these players faced one-off, minor infractions for tinted windows or failing to stop at a stop sign.
“We’ve addressed multiple things,” Belichick said Wednesday. “Not just that, but you know... there are other things that go on besides driving that we’ve talked about.”
Belichick didn’t address whether UNC players are required to report infractions to him and the coaching staff. He also didn’t elaborate on any specific methods the program is taking to curb speeding incidents or specific disciplinary measures taken. When asked for further clarification on these points, North Carolina football communications official Brandon Faber said the program would defer to Belichick’s comments on Wednesday.
Khmori House, the Washington transfer linebacker who leads UNC in sacks on the season, recorded the most charges on the Tar Heel roster. He racked up five citations between February and October, including four reckless driving charges.
“Spoke to him twice myself about dangers of speed, that mistakes happen,” wrote the officer comments in an Oct. 3 citation document for reckless driving reviewed by the N&O. “But he has shown that it’s a behavior issue now, not mistake.”
House was cited for reckless driving again just over two weeks later, on Oct. 17.
Two other prized transfers recruited by Belichick were cited multiple times for serious traffic violations.
Defensive back Thaddeus Dixon, who has been out due to injury since North Carolina’s game at Cal, has received four speeding tickets and one reckless driving charge since February. Dixon’s most recent citation came last week.
Gavin Gibson, another UNC defensive back, has been cited multiple times this year, including a reckless speeding citation in July for driving 72 mph in a 35 mph zone.
The volume of violations, roughly 20% of the North Carolina roster, stands in stark contrast with neighboring ACC programs, per WRAL.
N.C. State has a larger team, at 124 players, but recorded just 10 speeding citations and two reckless driving charges over the same period, WRAL reported.
Court documents show N.C. State wide receiver Wesley Grimes, a Raleigh native who played at Millbrook High School and joined the Wolfpack last year after starting his career at Wake Forest, was cited for reckless driving, speeding and racing while going 122 mph on I-540 in Wake County. A State Highway Patrol officer, in his comments on the citation, said he saw Grimes and another vehicle speed past him before Grimes cut across four lanes of traffic. Grimes also had an expired registration and inspection.
Annabelle Meyers, N.C. State’s associate athletics director for communications, told the N&O the school “does not receive notifications of traffic violations.”
“As with any private citizen who is cited, it is up to the individual to address the citation appropriately,” she wrote in an email to the N&O on Wednesday afternoon.
Duke reported two players with speeding infractions, per WRAL. That includes quarterback Darian Mensah who, according to a court document reviewed by the N&O, was cited as driving 95 mph in a 65 mph zone in August on I-885 in Durham County.
The Tar Heels host the Blue Devils this Saturday at 3:30 p.m. at Kenan Stadium in the latest edition of the Victory Bell Rivalry.
This story was originally published November 19, 2025 at 12:48 PM.