CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Finally, at 8:08 p.m., Monday, the time arrived for Bill Belichick to coach a college football game. Seven plays and 83 yards later, his North Carolina Tar Heels were celebrating a touchdown against Texas Christian, and Kenan Stadium was coming unhinged.
Up in the suites, Carolina royalty such as Lawrence Taylor, Michael Jordan, Roy Williams, Julius Peppers and Mia Hamm applauded. Randy Moss also was ensconced in a suite, alongside Belichick’s significant other, Jordon Hudson. Even Aaron Boone, his New York Yankees atop the American League wild-card standings, was riveted.
ESPN’s cameras couldn’t get enough.
Yeah, this was a day and event unlike any other in Chapel Hill, but a day that ended, like so many others in UNC football history, with a thud.
TCU 48, Carolina 14.
A Tar Heels defense coordinated by Belichick’s son Steve yielded 542 yards and was helpless against receiver Jordan Dwyer (nine catches, 136 yards). The offense converted 1 of 10 third downs and saw TCU return an interception and fumble for touchdowns.
TCU wide receiver Jordan Dwyer (7) hauls in a touchdown pass over North Carolina defensive back Marcus Allen (29) during the first half of an NCAA college football game Monday, Sept. 1, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Familiar result notwithstanding — the Tar Heels haven’t won an ACC championship since 1980 and have fired each of their last six coaches — the vibe was decidedly different.
Different than Mack Brown’s return as football coach or Williams’ homecoming as basketball coach. Different than the final hoops game at Carmichael or the first at the Dean Dome. Different than any national championship soiree or Carolina-Duke epic.
Not bigger, mind you, than countless basketball moments here, for as football-mad as some Tar Heels administrators and fans have become, nothing will supplant hoops atop the sporting food chain in these parts. But the day was absolutely unique, if only for the hope and tabloid overtones that have followed Belichick to his first college football job.
Carolina compounded that hope on the game’s opening series. South Alabama transfer quarterback Gio Lopez completed passes of 49 and 19 yards to Jordan Shipp, and Caleb Hood capped the drive with a 9-yard touchdown run.
But first drives, first games, even first seasons, can deceive. Such was the case Monday night.
In five subsequent first-half drives, UNC netted a combined 20 yards. Lopez went 0 for 4 and threw a pick-six, Bud Clark’s 25-yard return extending TCU’s lead to 17-7 late in the second quarter.
But the most disappointing sequence came on the Tar Heels’ ensuing possession, when on fourth-and-4 from the Horned Frogs’ 46 with 1:05 remaining, Belichick elected to punt.
C’mon, man! Lean into the moment. Be bold. Send your squad a message.
Be like TCU coach Sonny Dykes. After that timid UNC punt, his team on its own 21 with 53 seconds left before intermission, Dykes was aggressive, and his offense responded with a textbook hurry-up drill that ended with Kyle Lemmermann’s 33-yard field goal as the clock expired.
Trailing 20-7, could Belichick and his staff adjust and counter effectively? Not so much.
On the third quarter’s first snap, TCU’s Kevorian Barnes raced 75 yards untouched into the end zone. Following yet another Tar Heels three-and-out, the Horned Frogs on back-to-back plays converted a third-and-20 and scored on Trent Battle’s 28-yard run.
That’s when fans began streaming for the exits. Those who remained were promptly treated to TCU’s third touchdown in eight minutes, a 37-yard Devean Deal scoop-and-score after a Jonathan Bax sack of Lopez.
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Think about it. We’ve never seen arguably the most-accomplished coach of any professional sport veer into the college space — let alone at a largely irrelevant program.
Phil Jackson didn’t leave the NBA to coach at Nebraska. And Joe Torre didn’t leave Major League Baseball to take over at Boston College.
Yes, Bill Walsh went to Stanford in 1992 after winning three Super Bowls with the San Francisco 49ers. But Walsh had coached the Cardinal in 1977 and ’78. He had been an assistant at Cal and Stanford.
Until Dec. 11, 2024, Belichick had never coached college football. Will he, through sheer force of wisdom and experience, turn Carolina into a champion? Or, were the NFL franchises that declined to hire him after his New England Patriots demise on to something?
No one knows. No one. And with 70 new players, his first Tar Heels squad is even more of a mystery.
Those copious volumes of hope and uncertainty are what have sold out Kenan Stadium for the entire season. That’s what turned campus into a massive tailgate Monday, complete with a Chase Rice concert, and prompted ESPN to air an hour-long, on-site pregame show that included Belichick confidant Nick Saban.
There were, naturally, the requisite “Chapel Bill” t-shirts and even a Tom Brady Patriots jersey, the latter either an homage or clever shade. The branding-obsessed Hudson elbowed her way into the news as well Monday, with Sportico reporting that she and Belichick have applied to trademark terms such as “gold digger” and “Chapel Bill.”
Perhaps the most telling evidence of the Belichick effect: Carolina doubled the size of its Modelo Kickoff Club.
But no amount of alcohol consumption or branding can mask an inferior product, and on Monday night, that’s what the Tar Heels were.
David Teel: david.teel@virginiamedia.com
