North Carolina’s first look at the Bill Belichick era brought more than a win over TCU. It also brought a blunt reminder of how much work still sits in front of the Tar Heels.
Belichick arrived in Chapel Hill ahead of the 2025 season as a massive splash hire, but the early returns were rocky. North Carolina stumbled to a 4-8 finish in his first year, and the program has already dealt with its share of turbulence, including general manager Michael Lombardi stepping down from his role.
For all the noise, the Tar Heels opened this season with a performance that at least gave them something to build on. North Carolina beat TCU behind a defense that controlled the game and held the Horned Frogs to 10 points. Xavier Lewis was a force off the edge with two sacks, and Melkart Abou-Jaoude added another.
Billy Edwards Jr. handled the offense without finding the end zone, going 16 of 28 for 232 yards. Jelani Thurman led the receiving group with four catches for 94 yards, while Jaylen McGill provided the lone rushing touchdown and finished with 33 yards on five carries.
That opener gives North Carolina some breathing room as it heads into Saturday, September 12th, against East Tennessee State. If the Tar Heels can stack two wins to begin the season, they would at least carry some momentum into a Week 3 meeting with Clemson.
There is still plenty standing between North Carolina and an ACC Title Game push, and the road is obviously steep. But after looking more competitive in the opener than it did a year ago, the Tar Heels have given themselves a chance to look like a different team under Belichick.
That matters because Belichick’s resume is beyond question. He won six Super Bowls as the Patriots’ head coach, and even with the controversy that has followed him so far at North Carolina, the possibility remains that he can still flip the script and silence the doubters after a strong start to the 2026 season.
In Other News...
Pat McAfee Just Put UNC In A Spotlight Few Expected
Pat McAfee has never been shy about making noise, and his latest football forecast did exactly that for Bill Belichicks North Carolina program. The former NFL punter turned ESPN analyst went out on a limb by saying the Tar Heels will win the ACC in the 2026 season, a pick that immediately stands apart from the more familiar chatter around Miami and the usual preseason hierarchy.
For UNC, it is the kind of attention that can both flatter and complicate the moment. The Tar Heels are still working against the memory of last seasons results and the projection gap that comes with it, so a prediction like this puts an unusually bright spotlight on what Belichick is trying to build in Chapel Hill. Whether McAfee is ahead of the curve or just enjoying the shock value, he has certainly given this program a higher-profile target to chase. [Read more 🡒]
UNCs New Big Could Decide How Dangerous This Offense Becomes
North Carolinas offseason makeover has put a spotlight on Sayon Keita, the former Barcelona center whose arrival could end up shaping how far this group can go. Michael Malone made clear the staff sees more than just size in Keita, pointing to his value as a defender, his ability to guard multiple positions and the potential he brings as a playmaker in a system that wants to play fast and keep pressure on opponents.
The intriguing part is how much his growth on offense could matter for the Tar Heels ceiling. If Keita becomes more than a stopper inside the paint and starts giving North Carolina another reliable threat in the flow of the game, it could open up the pace and spacing Malone wants. If he stays mostly on the defensive side of the ledger, the offense may still work, but it would look a lot different than the version this roster seems built to become. [Read more 🡒]
Tar Heels Finally Showed The Attack Fans Have Been Waiting For
After a slow opening stretch, No. 10 Carolinas field hockey team finally found the kind of finish it has been chasing in a 7-0 home-opening rout of Penn at Karen Shelton Stadium. Five different Tar Heels scored in the victory, giving the offense a broader look than it had shown in the first two games and delivering the program its highest-scoring shutout since 2024.
The breakthrough came with the kind of balance Carolina will want to keep leaning on, especially with conference play looming and the record now sitting at 1-2. Grace Pottebaum was among the scorers, and the Tar Heels also did a lot of damage on set pieces, an encouraging sign for a group that had been waiting for a cleaner, more assertive attack to show up. [Read more 🡒]