Brian Murphy is based in Raleigh and his title is Sports Investigative Reporter for WRAL TV.

Of late there's been a lot to investigate at North Carolina's football program as Bill Belichick operates in a shroud of secrecy so thick that his players didn't have jersey numbers during the Tar Heels' recent spring game.

In addition, Belichick's 24-year-old girlfriend has taken on a strange role within the football program as she regularly scrutinizes UNC's communications staff for not doing a better job protecting the image of Belichick and those below him (including Bill's son Steve, the Tar Heels' defensive coordinator).

Here is an excerpt from Murphy's coverage of a spring game that was not remotely like most spring games:

No numbers on the jerseys for any player throughout spring or in Saturday's final practice.

No player interviews throughout spring or after Saturday's final practice.

No assistant coach interviews throughout spring or after Saturday's final practice.

Belichick spoke to the media near the beginning of spring practice ... and not again. Not even at the end of Saturday's event. Didn’t even pick up the microphone to thank everyone for coming out or tell them how important their presence this fall would be.

Murphy, a graduate of UNC, is a former newspaper sportswriter who covered Georgia Tech during the Chan Gailey era before moving to Boise and having a front-row seat to the Broncos' incredible rise to football prominence.

He was there for Boise State's unforgettable 43-42 triumph over Oklahoma in the 2007 Fiesta Bowl.

Before moving back to his roots in Raleigh he lived in Washington D.C., where he covered Congress for the News & Observer of Raleigh.

Joey Batson, Clemson's longtime and iconic strength and conditioning coach, is planning for 2025 to be his final season with the Tigers.

In the midst of this news broken today by Tigerillustrated.com, we revisit a 2021 interview we conducted with Batson in his office just months after he underwent open-heart surgery.

"Being a coach all these years, you want to push," Batson said then. "You just want to keep pushing. But then you're having to pull yourself back, saying: 'I don't know if that's very smart.'"

At the lowest point of his depression, Ricky Sapp was a recluse who wouldn't even answer phone calls from his mother, father or close friend Da'Quan Bowers.

He couldn't sleep and was so itchy that he thought he had bed bugs.

Only after he sought help did he learn that there were no bed bugs, but a monster of a battle as he tried to figure out who he was after his football career ended.

Sapp found himself by stumbling onto his passion for speaking to kids.

It totally changed who he was as a person.

Where he once used to be terrified of public speaking, Sapp now loves having the most public persona imaginable as he posts daily inspirational videos that include a lot of dancing and joyousness.

"I'm just a naturally happy person, which I learned when I got older," he said.

Sapp spent a year-and-a-half at his alma mater, working in Clemson's football strength and conditioning program.

But in August of 2023 he made the difficult decision to leave and pursue his all-consuming passion: Traveling the world and helping its youth.

On his web site therickysappfoundation.com, Sapp "encourages youth to make positive changes within themselves, their schools and communities."

"A single action can make a difference in the community; collective action can greatly impact the world. Ricky Sapp is driven by a single goal: to do his part in making the world a better place for all, one child at a time."