The UNC Tar Heels, their fans, and Bill Belichick were probably left scratching their heads a bit after a 48-14 dismantling at the hands of TCU. It was a horrible debut to Belichick's college career, and it has many burying the coach and the program already.
Joel Klatt isn't one of them. He was stunned by how it went down on Monday night, but the analyst said he's not all that surprised that this team as it is constructed didn't have the talent to compete with what is a genuinely good football team.
"Is this real life? Bill Belichick spent 50 years in the NFL... and now he's got a college team full of transplants. 40 from the transfer portal and several more high school players. Do we really think that they're going to be great right away?" Klatt asked before answering his own question with a firm "no."
Klatt said he told everyone that TCU was one of the two toughest games on the schedule. Clemson looms, but TCU was probably the next-best team this UNC squad was going to have to face. The analyst admitted he's a "little bit" worried about the Tar Heels, but added, "There were a lot of fixable mistakes out there."
He can't envision UNC allowing two defensive touchdowns every week, so that won't be an issue. He also said that TCU is quietly one of the best Big 12 teams and proved it Monday night, so it shouldn't be a massive surprise that UNC got manhandled in Week 1. The rest of the weeks won't be like that.
Klatt also said he expects that Belichick will be able to make adjustments, his calling card in the NFL, now that he has game film to work with, and he expects lineup changes for players who "didn't play hard."
Thanks to an easier schedule (excluding the eventual Clemson matchup), Klatt can see UNC getting things going. He admitted that they're going to need better QB play after Gio Lopez, the prized transfer, laid an egg on Monday night. QB play was a big problem for UNC last season, and it might not have gotten better after all.