CHAPEL HILL — There was no sugarcoating to be done about North Carolina’s performance in Bill Belichick’s debut, and, to his credit, Belichick didn’t even try.
“We all have plays we’d like to have back from the game – calls, plays, passes, tackles, you name it,” Belichick said Wednesday in recapping the Tar Heels’ 48-14 loss to TCU.
“You can’t participate in a game like that and not feel like there’s some things you could have done better or you’d like to do over again. Learn from those, move on and get ready for Charlotte. That’s all we can control. We need to learn some lessons from what happened in the TCU game, but, at the same time, there’s nothing we can do about that one.”
The hire of Belichick, who won six Super Bowl titles with the NFL’s New England Patriots, brought an unprecedented level of excitement, enthusiasm and attention to the UNC football program, which was in search of all of that. It also brought intense scrutiny and, after the dismal performance Monday night, outright mockery.
While much of the national media that descended upon Chapel Hill for the opener has disappeared, Belichick and his Tar Heels don’t have that option.
UNC (0-1) faces Charlotte (0-1) on Saturday night at Jerry Richardson Stadium, a 15,000-seat venue expected to be overcapacity for the Tar Heels’ first visit.
“We’re going to get better for sure,” linebacker Khmori House said. “That’s no question. It’s a no brainer. We’re going to get better and we just got to be better.”
UNC can’t be much worse. Outside of a crisp touchdown drive on the first possession of the game, the Tar Heels were dominated by TCU in every facet of the game. One indicator: The Horned Frogs had 542 yards of total offense and 29 first downs to UNC’s 222 and 10.
A list of the basic fundamentals that Belichick said broke down at some point in the game: snaps, catching the ball, tackling, finishing blocks, getting the proper depth on passing routes. And then there were the disaster or near-disaster plays, Belichick outlined – two turnovers that led directly to touchdowns, not converting on third down (1-for-10), giving up long runs “that were just not well defended,” including a 75-yarder on the first play from scrimmage in the third quarter, a short punt, a dropped snap and an blocked extra point that squeaked through.
“In every area things that we need to tighten up,” Belichick said. “TCU is a really good football team. I think that some of our deficiencies got exposed.”
UNC starting QB vs. Charlotte: Gio Lopez or Max Johnson?
Belichick was less forthcoming about the status of starting quarterback Gio Lopez, who left the game in the third quarter with a back injury. Lopez was 4-of-10 passing for 69 yards. He threw an interception that was returned for a touchdown and, on the play he was injured, had a fumble that was also returned for a score. Backup Max Johnson played better in relief, completing 9-of-11 passes for 103 yards and a touchdown, but the game was well decided by that point.
Belichick said he spoke with Lopez on Wednesday morning and that the transfer quarterback was doing pretty good. Lopez was at the UNC football facility on Wednesday ahead of North Carolina’s scheduled practice.
“We’ll see what it looks like on the practice field,” quarterbacks coach Matt Lombardi said.
Tar Heels prep for Charlotte
Charlotte, like UNC, has a first-year coach (former Ohio coach Tim Albin), a transfer starting quarterback (former UNC quarterback Conner Harrell) and a lopsided loss on its resume (34-11 to Appalachian State).
“They’re probably feeling about the same as we did,” Belichick said.
But there wasn’t much, if any, hype for the 49ers entering the season. Charlotte has had one winning season (7-6 in 2019) since restoring its football program in 2013 and moving to the Football Bowl Subdivision level in 2015. Albin is the program’s sixth head coach, including interim head coaches, since 2022.
However deflating the season-opening loss was, the Tar Heels are just one game into their Belichick era. The winner of 333 NFL games (regular season and playoffs), Belichick lost his first game as an NFL head coach with Cleveland and his first four as the Patriots’ head coach.
“It’s exciting all the stuff we have in front of us, and we should be confident and excited about it,” UNC defensive backs coach Brian Belichick said. “We got a good team. We’re excited to keep playing games, and we’re excited to go out and practice today and put it out there.”