CHARLOTTE, N.C. (AP) 鈥� NFL coaching great Bill Belichick spent trying to blend a roster full of newcomers and adjusting to life in the college ranks.
It was a learning experience even for someone with a r茅sum茅 featuring six Super Bowl titles as a head coach and ranking as one of the NFL’s all-time leaders in coaching wins.
鈥淟ook, I learn every year, I learn things every day,鈥� Belichick said Friday morning during the Atlantic Coast Conference鈥檚 preseason football media days.
鈥淓very week is a learning experience for me. Try to listen to the people that are around me that work for us, that do various things, whether it鈥檚 academics, training, nutrition, offense, defense, special teams, so forth. Try to do the best I can to help put it all together.
“Recruiting, fundraising 鈥� you name it. There are a lot of different things and I can improve in all of them.鈥�
It was a rough debut for the 74-year-old Belichick, best known for his time hoisting trophies and winning with relentless precision alongside star quarterback Tom Brady with the New England Patriots.
was a spectacle, one that put a national spotlight on a school with a football program that had long been an ACC also-ran compared to its tradition-rich men’s basketball program being among the nation’s blueblood elite.
There’s less buzz this time around. There鈥檚 no curiosity to imagining what it will look like for Belichick to roam a college sideline sporting his trademark hoodie garb. And the Tar Heels鈥� poor on-field performance offers little reason to expect a big leap in Year 2.
Yet similar to what he was known for in his Patriots tenure, Belichick is focused on his internal evaluation. And he sees cause for optimism.
鈥淟ast year when we started, we were literally starting from scratch,” he said. 鈥淲e’re above that now for sure.鈥�
Belichick is hoping there’s more continuity from spring drills
Belichick has pointed numerous times to the Tar Heels getting a late run into recruiting after his December hiring, starting with jumping into the transfer portal and then pulling from the high school ranks. That meant pulling together a roster to get started with spring drills, then going through more waves of roster changes leading into preseason camp.
鈥淭he biggest thing last year was just how behind we were,鈥� Belichick said of his December 2024 arrival.
By the time the Tar Heels started last season, they had 70 new players.
鈥淭his time a year ago, we didn鈥檛 have a quarterback who had taken a snap even in spring ball for us,鈥� Belichick said.
鈥淟ast year we didn鈥檛 have any player-run practices. We couldn’t actually line up a team and run against another team without the coaches being out there because we didn’t have anybody that knew enough on either side of the ball to do that. Whereas this year these guys have done it all spring and all summer.”
To that point, the Tar Heels have plenty of newness on the roster with 60 new players, 40 true freshmen and 17 redshirt freshmen. But UNC also had 35 of the first-year freshmen arrive in time to go through spring practices while there’s enough returnees to offer continuity and better stability.
鈥淐ulture’s a lot different, work ethic’s different,鈥� Belichick said. 鈥淚’m not taking anything away from the guys that were here. But compared to a year ago, we just know a lot more about what we鈥檙e doing and how to do it and our culture鈥檚 a lot different.鈥�
UNC knows what to expect for Belichick’s second season
was the center of attention. So too was his nationally televised Labor Day debut in front of a sellout home crowd against TCU.
in what turned out to be a harbinger of frustration to come. And Belichick’s mere presence on the sideline only magnified the pressure that arose from on-field troubles and unwanted off-field headlines, from to tabloid-like interest .
鈥淪eeing a guy like Coach Belichick, who鈥檚 constantly in the spotlight 鈥� I mean, the guy could cure cancer and people would still write negative pieces about him,” offensive lineman Christo Kelly said.
鈥淏ut seeing how he handles himself through everything, seeing how he鈥檚 continued to block out the noise, it really sets the standard for what we should be doing.鈥�
By the end of the year, Belichick had fielded a team that had more losses by double-digit margins (five) than total wins, with Tar Heels fans having fled early for the exits. UNC’s three wins against Bowl Subdivision opponents came against teams with a combined 8-28 record (Charlotte, Syracuse and Stanford), while the Tar Heels failed to make a bowl for the first time since 2018.
鈥淲e really felt like it was all Carolina 鈥� Carolina for Carolina, nobody else was really rooting for us, everybody wanted to see Coach Belichick fail,鈥� receiver Jordan Shipp said.
鈥淚t was just like we knew that we were in this by ourselves. And everybody that was here last year, we know that feeling. So now we know what to expect.鈥�
The same goes for Belichick, who was asked in the afternoon what he had learned about himself at UNC.
鈥淭hat I like coaching in college,鈥� Belichick said. 鈥淚 didn鈥檛 know whether I would or wouldn鈥檛, but I do.鈥�
___
AP college football: and
Copyright © 2026 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, written or redistributed.
