North Carolina coach Bill Belichick took center stage Thursday at ACC Media Days, accompanied by his transfer quarterback and several program veterans as TV crews and cameras tracked his every move.
Ahead of his first season with the Tar Heels, the six-time Super Bowl champion was the main attraction, drawing a swarm of media members — even more than two-time national champion and defending ACC titleholder Dabo Swinney.
The NFL’s winningest coach is taking his shot at college football in 2025, believing that a completely revamped roster featuring 70 new players can deliver immediate success.
Belichick had just 10 minutes inside the main room, and one of only three questions he received focused on the dying fullback position. We’ll save the strategy-heavy response for another time and dive into what else Belichick shared:
How will Bill Belichick’s debut season at North Carolina unfold? Game-by-game predictions for 2025 Tar Heels
Cody Nagel
On transition from NFL to college football
What Belichick said: “Honestly, I thought the (resources) would be great at Carolina. There’s so much opportunity down here — the students, the school, the campus, the alumni, the administration … Chancellor (Lee H.) Roberts has been great, Bubba (Cunningham) and now Steve (Newmark). The Rams Club and all the people we work with there. It’s honestly more than I expected. It’s been fantastic.
“Everybody’s reached out, ‘What can we do to help? What do you need?’ There’s obviously interest and excitement in the season coming up and we’re excited to get started.”
Takeaway: While Belichick never worried about buy-in at his first college football job, the help he’s received has been reassuring throughout the offseason in Chapel Hill. The Tar Heels graced Belichick with an expansive budget for his coaching staff, front-office department and other staff members. They’ve also worked to keep the spotlight on football leading up to the opener. UNC recently announced a season ticket sellout despite an increase in prices, a sign of positive momentum for the fanbase.
Difference in NFL players vs. college athletes
What Belichick said: “The players are very anxious and eager to learn and to be good, and to want to be good and do the right thing. They haven’t had the kind of college success that most NFL players have had yet, or in some cases, pro success that some NFL players have had. They don’t have as many bad habits.
“They’re more anxious to learn fundamentally the right way and they really embrace it. That’s not always the case in the NFL. Sometimes it is, sometimes it isn’t. (Tom) Brady was always willing and open to learn. Other guys were more set in their ways because they had success doing it a certain way in high school and college.”
Takeaway: College football players have more patience and have shown a willingness to listen, according to Belichick. He can really put that coaching acumen to good use here. And of course he wasn’t going to go an entire day in Charlotte without mentioning his future Hall of Fame quarterback.
On season opener against TCU on Labor Day
What Belichick said: “Sure our eyes are on the TCU opener, but right now, we just want good training days.”
Takeaway: Six weeks is a long time for a program that has so much to sort out. Belichick said several times Thursday that his goals are to continue “stacking days” and making noticeable, incremental improvements with every additional rep.
On coaching against Dabo Swinney
What Belichick said: “We’ve scouted his players from the NFL down. Some of the players here today, I actually thought, ‘maybe we’ll draft one of these guys.’ And now here we are playing against them. Dabo’s been great. I have so much respect for the Clemson program. His kids are high quality. He came up to New England and got probably the top player out of New England in probably the last decade, Christian Wilkins. I think that says a lot for the program that he runs and what he’s done for college football.”
Takeaway: Belichick has spent several hours this offseason with Swinney at various ACC coaches meetings, but it sounds like the relationship goes back much further. Depending on how long Belichick plans to stay in Chapel Hill, perhaps he can glean some advice from a coach who’s done it at the ACC’s highest level for nearly two decades.
On blocking out ‘offseason controversy’ with players
What Belichick said: “Yeah, well, I mean the great thing about working with college players is the growth and development we’ve seen. I saw a little bit of that last year when I was at Washington with coach (Jedd) Fisch and Steve (Belichick) out there. To see how much players have improved from spring to the start of training camp.
“This year, of course, we haven’t started camp, but the amount of improvement our players made over 15 days in pads was something you never saw in the NFL. We never could wear pads in the offseason. How much better the players got in fundamentals, hand placement, leverage, so forth. On the college end, the players are younger and less skilled, sometimes that’s an advantage with fewer bad habits to break.”
Takeaway: Was this a question about Jordon Hudson without naming her specifically? The reporter mentioned a difference between dealing with “18 to 22-24 year olds” as opposed to “full grown men” in the NFL and specifically wanted to hear Belichick’s take on “keeping the main thing the main thing.” Belichick sidestepped the attempt and raved about improvement his team has shown throughout the offseason, which is not necessarily something he’s used to with an NFL background.
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