North Carolina’s first trip outside the United States is going to feel like a small operation unto itself.
The Tar Heels are heading to Dublin, Ireland, to open the season Saturday against TCU in Week 0, with kickoff set for noon ET on ESPN and 5 p.m. local time. But before they ever get to Aviva Stadium, UNC has spent weeks mapping out every detail of the journey - from sleep and hydration to meals and timing.
This didn’t start when game week did. A plane carrying team equipment, coaching headset systems and nutritional supplies already landed in Dublin more than a week ago, according to a program source who spoke to TarHeel247. That advance shipment was part of making sure the Tar Heels have everything they need waiting for them when they arrive.
The team’s travel itself is set for Wednesday night, when UNC leaves Raleigh-Durham International Airport on a chartered Aer Lingus flight. The flight is scheduled to depart just after 9 p.m. ET and land in Dublin at 9:10 a.m. local time Thursday.
Once they get there, there won’t be much time to ease into the new time zone. The Tar Heels are scheduled to meet with the media at 1 p.m. local time, then go right into a full practice at Aviva Stadium. That’s why the program settled on sleeping on the plane and then catching up after Thursday’s practice, rather than trying to bank rest another way while adjusting to the five-hour difference.
UNC also built the trip around the realities of player comfort. With 12 seats across the chartered flight - three seats on either side, two rows along each side and six seats in the middle - the setup should give players enough room to stretch out. That matters for a roster full of players, especially the ones who stand well over 6 feet tall, when sleep is the priority.
Nutrition and hydration are part of the plan too. Every player is on a hydration schedule, and the nutrition staff will have a designated space in the back of the plane to keep everything organized overnight. Gatorade, snacks and meals will all be available during the flight.
"We have a lot of people helping us at all times," captain linebacker Derek McDonald said on Monday. "Amber, our nutritionist, is always on top of things.
We're just focused on taking it day-by-day, but obviously it's a different type of travel schedule than you'd have for most games [with] flying to a different country. I think we'll have a lot more steps that'll go into that that we'll get into on the day we start traveling."
After Thursday’s practice, the Tar Heels will sleep again and continue their final buildup on Friday, with the aim of being fully adjusted to Irish Standard Time before kickoff. UNC won’t be operating on Eastern Time once it’s in Ireland.
Bill Belichick said the plan is to get the team settled quickly and back into a normal routine as much as possible.
"We'll try to get them on a schedule as much as we can once we get over there," Bill Belichick said on Monday. "Try to get things back to normal.
It's a five-hour difference, so we'll adjust. It's a little bit different, but not that much different from the Cal trip last year."
For UNC, the hope is that all of that preparation turns Saturday into just another game day, even if the setting is a long way from Chapel Hill.
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