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The first Tar Heel students began to trickle out with about four minutes left in the first quarter on Saturday. The mass exodus made sense. By the end of the opening period, Clemson had already steamrolled UNC’s defense, recording four touchdowns in its first four possessions (and 16 plays) en route to a no-doubt 38-10 rout.
Another electric pregame atmosphere and another let down. A month removed from North Carolina’s 48-14 hammering at the hands of TCU, the Tar Heels have made little progress and have even less to show for their efforts. With two weeks off since UNC’s last game, coach Bill Belichick said his team focused on fundamentals first, and preparing for Clemson second.
“I think we made some improvements last week that we needed to make and kind of reset a few things,” Belichick said Tuesday. “So hopefully that’ll show up this week. It’s a good football team that we’re prepared for.”
The Tigers brought the Tar Heels back to reality instantly: a 75-yard trick-play touchdown on its very first snap. Clemson never looked back, delivering another embarrassment for Belichick and the Tar Heels.
Admittedly, it would be unfair to have expected UNC to beat this Clemson team — even one that entered Saturday with its own struggles and a 1-3 start to the season. Just some incremental progress, in a loss, would’ve been a win for the Tar Heels.
There were a few bright spots: Max Johnson threw for 213 yards (he’s the first North Carolina quarterback to throw for over 200 yards this season). The offense tried to get the ball to wideout Jordan Shipp more, finding him for five catches and 41 yards.
A new message for UNC fans
The only real reset in Chapel Hill, though, is Belichick’s messaging — and his excuses. The talking points coming from Belichick and general manager Michael Lombardi have recently expanded from promises of discipline and in-season improvement to multiyear timelines, learning curves and the cyclical refrain of “the process.”
These past few weeks, Belichick and UNC’s leaders have leaned on big-picture talk. Chancellor Lee Roberts said on Sept. 25 it was too early to judge Belichick after “four games or even one season,” adding, “these things take time.”
On Monday during “Carolina Football Live,” Lombardi lamented the difficulties UNC faced during the transfer portals and in spring practice. He promised better success in future high school recruiting cycles and spoke of a multi-year rebuilding plan in a recent email to donors. Belichick echoed that during his appearance on ESPN’s “College GameDay,” touting upcoming recruiting classes.
“We’ll try to build through the recruiting classes and then supplement that with some transfer guys,” Belichick said in his interview Saturday. “We need a couple good recruiting classes and I think we’re on the way to getting those.”
Talk of “rebuilding” has now replaced the preseason rhetoric about the “33rd NFL team.” A program billed as pro-level is preaching a return to football basics. But through five games, the results have stayed the same — and in many ways gotten worse.
North Carolina is now 0-3 against Power 4 opponents, outscored 120-33 in those games. The Tigers, who put not one but two backup quarterbacks into the game as it slipped further out of reach, could have stretched the margin on Saturday even further if coach Dabo Swinney had wanted.
UNC had an off week to patch things up, but fundamental errors continued. They were echoed in a series of pre-snap penalties, blown coverages, a special teams timeout with 12 players on the field, missed assignments and situational confusion.
The Tar Heels’ defense, co-coached by Belichick’s sons Steve and Brian, yielded 399 passing yards and allowed Clemson quarterback Cade Klubnik to complete 22 of 24 passes for 254 yards and four touchdowns. Klubnik and his receivers picked apart UNC’s secondary with ease, exploiting coverage busts for 10 explosive plays.
“We gave up too many explosive plays,” Belichick said. “When we stopped giving those up, we were able to be competitive… but we gave up too many in the first quarter.”
Even moments that seemed poised to help UNC break up the onslaught were erased: would-be interceptions by Thaddeus Dixon and Gavin Gibson were overturned. UNC’s offense opened with a field goal but stalled until a late touchdown in the fourth quarter finally broke the drought.
The outcome, though, had long been decided.
Belichick preaches patience
Belichick maintained a patient, process-driven tone after the game. He said the team would keep grinding. They’d get back to work and have “another good week.”
North Carolina faces an open week, followed by a long trip west to California for a 10:30 p.m. kickoff on Oct. 17 — hardly a reprieve given the late start.
So far for Belichick and his team, all that’s really new is in the explanations and how the latest disappointment is framed. But, while some of UNC’s leadership is already leaning further into talk of the future, Shipp has made it clear he wants results now.
“To be honest, I’m not worried about rebuild,” Shipp said. “I’m not here to rebuild. I’m here to win football games. That’s why I’m here. That’s why I stayed here.”
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Shelby Swanson
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