UNC football is heading into 2026 with a different kind of energy than it carried into last season. There’s no big preseason swell around the program this time, no loud expectation machine humming in the background. Instead, the word around camp has been “improvement,” which says plenty about where things stood after last year’s ugly finish against NC State.
And yet, there are real reasons to believe the Tar Heels are in a better spot than they were a year ago.
The biggest one starts with something basic: this offseason actually looked like a normal football offseason.
Last year’s spring was a mess. A former staff member called it “very stressful,” adding, “Everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off.”
The quarterback situation alone showed how scrambled things were. GM Michael Lombardi brought in Ryan Browne to be the starter, but after spring practice, Lombardi and Belichick paid him to go away and replaced him with Gio Lopez.
Belichick later said at ACC media days that last year’s spring never built enough of a foundation for player-led work over the summer, which meant UNC didn’t really get started on its offense until August. That left the program months behind before the season even began.
This year, the process was far more orderly. The roster went through a normal spring, then carried that work into summer player-led practices. That alone should give UNC a better chance to look like a functional team right out of the gate.
There’s also a clearer sense of identity and leadership this time around.
Last season, the early struggles turned into a locker room revolt after the Clemson game. The dysfunction that had been building for months finally spilled out.
Players can live with losing. What they won’t tolerate nearly as easily is being made to look ridiculous.
Between Lombardi’s “33rd NFL team” posture, Jordon Hudson’s constant hunger for attention and affirmation, and the results on the field, the whole operation became too much to ignore.
UNC did manage to steady itself for a stretch in the middle of the schedule, but the ending was a collapse. The team picked up nearly half its penalties over the final four games, including 23 for 232 yards against Duke and State alone.
On defense and special teams, Duke and State produced 10 touchdowns and a field goal on 15 drives, not counting end-of-half kneel-downs. By then, the group had largely checked out.
That doesn’t sound like the same setup UNC is carrying into 2026. This group has spent months working together in winter workouts and spring ball, with a clearer structure in place.
Last year, it often felt like the players were trying to figure out what they were even playing for. This year, the foundation looks more connected.
That doesn’t guarantee success, but it does raise the floor on focus, effort, and how much the team can play for one another when things get hard.
Then there’s the change in the noise around the program.
Belichick and Hudson were everywhere last summer and fall, showing up together constantly and flooding social media with selfies. One of the most memorable images was Belichick lying on a beach with Hudson above him in a supine position with his legs, just before UNC got blown off the field by a very mid UCF team.
This summer has been different. The two haven’t been seen together much in public, if at all, and the circus feel around them seems to have faded for now.
Lombardi has also gone from highly visible to nearly invisible, and that shift started before his paid administrative leave on July 27. He didn’t make any formal appearances at ACC media days.
Belichick will head the coach’s show this season, not Lombardi. The contrast is stark: a figure who once seemed eager for every camera and microphone has become a much quieter presence.
After the backlash that followed his suspension, there hasn’t been much, if any, public defense of him. It’s possible he never comes back to UNC football at all.
If that’s the case, it could end up being a case of addition by subtraction.
None of this means UNC is suddenly fixed. The schedule gets tougher, and the roster still has question marks on both offense and defense.
But programs make their own atmosphere, and last year UNC spent too much time tripping over its own feet. In 2026, simply getting out of its own way could be enough to make a real difference.
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