CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — I’ve been to three games in the Bill Belichick era at North Carolina.

Every one ended with the stands empty and only a few devoted students waiting on the railing of the west end zone to see their team trot back into the locker room.

The difference this time was North Carolina was mostly competitive, spending much of the third quarter within a possession of a top-five team, who UNC is now 1-42-1 against all time.

Except nobody seemed to care as UNC rallied from an early deficit in a 37-26 loss to No. 3 Notre Dame.

“We were certainly competitive. We missed some opportunities,” Belichick said. “We just need to do a better job of coaching, playing, taking advantage of those opportunities.”

Thus far, the reasons North Carolina would turn to Belichick to steer the program have yet to show themselves. The national attention brought to the program was brief and minimal, and it was derailed by conversations about his girlfriend after a “CBS Sunday Morning” interview went awry.

The rain in Saturday’s forecast arrived late in the first half, but at kickoff, there was plenty of room to stretch your legs in the student section of Kenan Stadium. Most of the stadium’s north side was dotted with green — Notre Dame fans watching the next step on what they hope is a College Football Playoff run.

There was no such hope among those wearing Carolina blue who arrived to see their 2-1 team that should have entered 3-0 but squandered a lead in a weather-delayed loss to Clemson two weeks ago.

Hiring Belichick was always going to be a football risk. The construction and management of an NFL franchise couldn’t be more different from building and managing a roster in the modern era of college football, where rules are merely suggestions and more programs have factors working against their climb up the standings than aiding it.

I have a bad feeling this will get much worse.

https://www.on3.com/news/report-unc-defensive-coordinator-steve-belichick-resigns/

I truly hope Steve gets the help that he needs. I may not be a fan of the Belichick era, but I wish him all the best as a person.

Are we having fun yet?

Losing to Dook by 30?

I know this article is behind a paywall so here are the highlights:

• Reports on X that Belichick has been fired are not true
• Potential exit strategies have been discussed on Wednesday morning.
• The school would prefer to do it with cause to avoid or cut down any buyout
• What to do and how to do it are ongoing discussions, but there is a sense of helplessness with how much has happened so far. There is a tsunami of stuff coming out now, and it needs to be confirmed before reporting on
• Another case of a player injured in the spring who showed to fall camp and was told he was not part of the team and could not use the facilities to rehab.
• A source disclosed to Tarheel247 on Tuesday night that there are many other violations that have occurred within the UNC football program, many on the recruiting front.
  

https://www.espn.com/contributor/pete-thamel/9edce361b8c81

Drake Maye is going to the Super Bowl. Yet while at UNC, Drake’s teams never won more than 9. He lost both bowl games (played in 1), didn’t win an acc championship, and never beat NC State. He did, however, manage to eke out 2 wins against Duke.

Is this Drake’s fault? No. He kept us from 3-4 wins. This is how bad the program was under Mack Brown. Mack collected a few super human talents and let them mask a ton of deficiencies. What we saw last year is the result of his incompetence at building a roster and a culture. There wasn’t a Sam or a Drake or a Hampton to carry us across the finish line.

Can Belichick fix things? That remains to be seen. But Drake covered up a lot of rot. It’s a huge mess to fix and 1 year was never going to be enough.

The Belichick Era continues to roll on.

It's obvious that this isn't working. We're likely headed for 2-10 and have EPA stats on par with the worst teams of this era. The WRAL report shows that it's a mess behind the scenes as well. Belichick has turned this program into a national embarrassment, and the players and fans deserve better. However, the BOT doesn't seem to be the kind of people who admit mistakes, even when it's this obvious. Is there any chance I'm wrong? I feel like another year of Belichick might set the program back a decade or more and keep us out of the P2 that is coming, which would hurt Carolina athletics from top to bottom.

I know WF are playing a small school, but wow where was this with UNC man. 300 yards at half is madness lol

10 million for Belichick, 12.5 mil for the coaching staff, and 13 mil for the athletes. Will football generate enough funds to recoup the money and if not what impacts does that have on the school?

PSU just fired James Franklin. If I were the BOT, I would fire Belichick and throw a bag at Franklin as soon as possible. He took over a program at PSU that was still dealing with the fallout of the Paterno era and modernized the program to a point where they are equal to just about anyone as far as facilities and resources go. He may not have ever won the big one but he consistently won 10 games per year. That's a level of football success Carolina has never known. In the current CFB landscape, 10 wins would get us to the playoff most years and ensure that we're not left behind during the next round of conference realignment. To be fair, I'd also be happy with an up-and-coming coach, but Franklin seems pretty close to a sure thing. What do y'all think?

Vandy 35, NCSt 31

The Chapel Bill experiment for North Carolina enters year 2. Bill Belichick knows how to win, but will this be the year that shows?

📌 Who will emerge at QB?

📌 The RBs are really good, skill talent in general is strong

📌 North Carolina's defense was low-key good much of last year, but lost some pieces from that group

Preview attached. What are your predictions for North Carolina entering 2026?

UNC has definitely seen some gut wrenching losses in basketball, but lets try to keep it football related with this one.

I’m doing a series where I ask all 136 FBS subreddits on what their most heartbreaking loss they witnessed.This loss could’ve been witnessed from the TV or while attending the game doesn’t matter.

If I had to guess for North Carolina, definitely the 2015 ACC championship, 2023 vs Virginia cost them a spot in the ACC championship im pretty sure, and that atrocious 2025 opener vs TCU.

That man is straight trash.

Attending my first UNC football game later this season. How does tailgating work? Where? How much $$$? Any tips??!??