North Carolina Tar Heels football coach Bill Belichick has endured an embarrassing introduction to the college game after 48 years in the NFL. While UNC’s latest 21-18 loss to the Cal Golden Bears in Berkeley, California, was respectable in many regards, the Power 4 losses that preceded it weren’t.
Belichick’s Tar Heels took a 38-10 loss to the now-3-4 Clemson Tigers at home, a 34-9 loss to the UCF Knights at the Bounce House, and a 48-14 Week 1 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs at home before the Cal loss.
The Washington Post’s Patrick Stevens believes North Carolina’s remaining schedule, one likely filled with losses like the first half of it, won’t be a national story anymore. The Tar Heels face regional rivals like the Virginia Cavaliers, Wake Forest Demon Deacons, Duke Blue Devils, and NC State Wolf Pack, plus the Syracuse Orange and Stanford Cardinal, the rest of the way.
“If there is a silver lining for the Tar Heels, it’s that this is probably one of the last times a clearly middling team is going to command much attention. They have another Friday night game on Halloween (at Syracuse), but the remainder of their second-half schedule (Virginia, Stanford, at Wake Forest, Duke, at N.C. State) is mostly longtime, regional rivals,” Stevens wrote.
“Now that creates other problems closer to home. But on a national scale, the time has just about come to tune out the Tar Heels until 2026.”
Much like “Prime Time” in Boulder towards the end of the 2023 season, a poor product is unraveling during the Power 4 debut of a previously established NFL personality. Given UNC GM Michael Lombardi’s front office dealings since taking over player movement in “Chapel Bill,” many have little faith there will be a revival like the Colorado Buffaloes had in 2024 with a 9-3 regular season.
Deion Sanders brought Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter with him to CU. Belichchick is bringing his unproven sons, Steven and Brian, to coach the defense while inappropriately featuring Jordon Hudson in team meetings.
Different types of nepotism are creating different types of results. Especially because Coach Prime’s “Daddy Ball” was proven to be just good football.
That’s the opposite of what’s been happening on the field for North Carolina.