Bill Belichick is back in the college football video game conversation for the same reason he was last year: he’s not in it.
When EA Sports launched the latest edition of its College Football series last week, North Carolina’s head coach was again missing from the sidelines in College Football 27. Belichick is one of only a handful of head coaches not included, and his absence stands out because the franchise has used real-life coaches in the last two installments since its reboot with College Football 25.
The reason is straightforward. Belichick did not opt in to the coaches’ licensing agreement, so EA replaced him with a generic character model. For players trying to steer UNC away from its 4-8 season in Belichick’s first year, the Tar Heels will be there - just not the actual coach.
That setup may even tempt some users to take over the program themselves and rebuild North Carolina from the head coach spot.
Belichick’s decision tracks with how he’s handled video games before. During his NFL run with the New England Patriots, he was left out of the Madden NFL series for two decades, with his last official appearance coming in Madden NFL 2002. Outside of Madden NFL 2001 and 2002, there are no other video games in which Belichick has officially appeared.
So while his omission isn’t shocking, it still lands as a pretty big one. Belichick is one of the most recognizable coaches in football history, and seeing College Football 27 without him is notable for that reason alone.
He’s one of seven head coaches not in the game this year, alongside Miami’s Mario Cristobal and Colorado’s Deion Sanders, among others.
For North Carolina, the real focus is bigger than any digital sideline. The Tar Heels are trying to bounce back from last season’s disaster and get back to respectability in the FBS with Belichick in charge.
In Other News...
UNC Freshman Faces A Familiar Problem With Huge Long Term Stakes
North Carolinas projected rotation next season already looks crowded with familiar names and a few newcomers who will be asked to fit quickly. Sayon Keita, Jarin Stevenson, Matt Able and Terrence Brown all sit in the mix as key contributors, and the early read is that the Tar Heels have enough pieces to build a real lineup rather than just a collection of options. For a program that always has to balance immediate expectations with long-term roster building, that kind of depth can be a strength if the roles sort themselves out cleanly.
Kevin Thomas is the kind of freshman who makes that sorting process interesting. He arrives with real talent and a chance to carve out minutes, but he is also walking into a backcourt where the early opportunities are likely to go to players with more experience. Under Michael Malone, the path forward will come down to development and whether Thomas can separate himself in the areas that tend to travel well for young guards, which is where the bigger question for UNC begins to take shape. [Read more 🡒]
UNC Still Commands Top 25 Respect After Massive Offseason Reset
UNCs offseason reset was as dramatic as any in the country, with Hubert Davis out and Michael Malone in as the Tar Heels try to rebuild a roster that lost multiple key pieces to the NBA Draft and the transfer portal. Even with that turnover, the program still has enough name value and incoming talent to stay in the national conversation, helped by additions such as Terrence Brown and Matt Able and a broader influx of new faces around the roster.
Gary Parrishs latest view of the Tar Heels reflects that balance, keeping them in the Top 25 mix despite all the change. The returning core is thinner than usual, but UNC still has enough proven production and enough fresh talent to make the next question less about whether the Heels belong in the rankings and more about how quickly Malone can turn that reworked group into a team that can actually live up to it. [Read more 🡒]
Former Tar Heel Andrew Platek Lands A Head Coaching Role
Andrew Plateks coaching path has taken another step forward, as the former UNC guard has been named the head coach of the Shenendehowa boys basketball program. He arrives after two seasons at Niskayuna High School and takes over a program that has long been guided by Paul Yattaw, while also bringing a local connection from his days playing high school basketball at Guilderland.
Now Platek gets a bigger stage to shape a team in his image, and the style he wants to build should sound familiar to Tar Heel fans. He has talked about wanting his teams to play fast, get into transition, shoot often and maximize possessions, a philosophy that traces back to Roy Williams and the up-tempo approach Platek knew at North Carolina. The question now is how quickly he can turn that vision into a program identity at Shenendehowa. [Read more 🡒]