The stage was set for a memorable night, and in a way it was.
In front of a sold-out Kenan Stadium, in a primetime TV slot, and with sporting legends ranging from Michael Jordan to Lawrence Taylor to Randy Moss all in attendance, Bill Belichick made his highly-anticipated coaching debut at the University of North Carolina. The game turned into one of the worst losses suffered in Belichick’s career.
Despite UNC taking a 7-0 lead on its opening drive, visiting TCU fought back hard. In the end, the game was as lopsided as any with Belichick as head coach: the Tar Heels were beaten 48-14 to fall to 0-1 on the season.
The game was reminiscent of the New England Patriots’ 2021 wild card playoff loss to the Buffalo Bills, or some of the lopsided defeats suffered during his final year with the franchise in 2023. The 48 points given up were the most ever by a Belichick-led team in 512 games between the NFL and college.
North Carolina opened in style. Mixing play action and big runs, the team executed its scripted plays well en route to an 8-yard Caleb Hood touchdown run. That was the high point of the night for Belichick and his team.
From its second drive on, UNC began struggling on offense; passing the football in particular proved to be problematic for the unit coordinated by Freddie Kitchens; as a consequence, only one of 10 third downs were converted. Turnovers were another issue: the Tar Heels lost a pair of fumbles and threw a pick-six in the second period.
Defensively, execution was lacking throughout the night. Steve Belichick’s crew missed multiple tackles while allowing the Horned Frogs to go a compiled 8-for-13 on third and fourth downs. When all was said and done, the visitors had out-gained the home team by over 300 yards: 542 to 222.
“We played competitively but then just couldn’t sustain it,” Belichick said after the game. “Obviously, we have a lot of work to do. We need to do a better job all the way around - coaching, playing, all three phases of the game.”
Belichick and his team will travel to Charlotte on Saturday with a meeting with the 0-1 49ers. His ex-club, meanwhile, will open its 2025 regular season one day later against the Las Vegas Raiders.
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