Belichick’s teaching debut with UNC ends with blowout loss to TCU
Patriots
“Teaching, enjoying, all three phases of the sport, simply wasn’t as much as what it must be.”
“We’re on to Charlotte.”
Invoice Belichick didn’t evoke any of his catchphrases or trademark blunt musings as he fielded questions from Kenan Memorial Stadium on Monday night.
However contemplating the optics that performed out at Chapel Hill, the legendary head coach ought to already be seeking to flip the web page after a disastrous debut as head coach of the Tar Heels.
In what stood as his first-ever sport as head coach of a college-football program, Belichick and the Tar Heels have been dealt a 48-14 loss to TCU in a nationally-televised broadcast.
The 48 factors relinquished by the Tar Heels’ protection have been essentially the most factors given up by a Belichick-coached workforce in a single sport. In complete, the Horned Frogs outgained UNC, 542-222, in complete offense — with the Tar Heels solely changing on 1 of 10 third-down alternatives.
“You understand, we have to do a greater job all the way in which round — teaching, enjoying, all three phases of the sport, simply wasn’t as much as what it must be,” Belichick instructed reporters postgame. “I do know we’re lot higher than that. So we’ll have to work on these issues and present it on Saturday . . . , however give TCU credit score, they got here in and did a very good job, and so they have been clearly the higher workforce tonight. They deserved to win, and so they did it decisively.”
For the entire pleasure emanating out of Chapel Hill since Belichick took the reins of this system 9 months in the past, issues went south in a rush for the previous Patriots head coach and his new workforce on Monday.
The Tar Heels opened the sport with a seven-play, 83-yard drive that ended with working again Caleb Hodd reaching the tip zone in a bit over 4 minutes into the matchup.
However TCU then rattled off 41 unanswered factors — with UNC QB Gio Lopez getting knocked for a pair of turnovers (pick-six, fumble return) that immediately led to 14 factors for the Horned Frogs.
After UNC’s opening drive led to seven factors, the Tar Heels generated simply 139 complete yards of offense over their subsequent 10 drives. Lopez went two hours and 7 minutes in between completions — along with his third completion of the evening coming at 8:17 within the third quarter.
UNC’s protection didn’t maintain up a lot better, giving up a number of chunk-yardage performs on the bottom. Kevorian Barnes, who completed with 113 dashing yards for TCU, opened the second half with a 75-yard landing run that had UNC followers making their option to the exits.
Each TCU and the Large XII Convention relished the Tar Heels’ lopsided defeat — given each the heightened media protection coming into the sport and a few ill-advised feedback from Tar Heels basic supervisor Michael Lombardi.
“I feel all of us felt a bit disrespected, perhaps, coming in,” TCU head coach Sonny Dykes mentioned postgame. “There was plenty of dialog and none of it was about us. I feel all of us have been extremely motivated. Our gamers have been definitely excited to play.”
Again in February, Lombardi additionally made headlines when he referred to the revamped UNC program as an extension of the 32 groups within the NFL.
“All the pieces we do right here is based on constructing a professional workforce,” Lombardi mentioned on Feb. 28, per the Fayetteville Observer. “We contemplate ourselves the thirty third (NFL) workforce, ’trigger all people who’s concerned in our program has had some type of facet in professional soccer.’”
It didn’t take lengthy for each the Large XII and TCU to troll Belichick and the Tar Heels on social media.
“A 34-point win over the thirty third workforce,” the Large 12 wrote in a caption on X, whereas TCU Soccer’s X account twisted the knife over UNC’s upcoming docuseries present on Hulu.
Belichick, who agreed to a five-year cope with UNC in December 2024 after his 24-year tenure in New England got here to a detailed, was gazing a large enterprise this fall.
Even with Belichick’s teaching acumen and expertise, the Tar Heels haven’t been a collegiate powerhouse — particularly coming off a 6-7 season in 2024.
Belichick’s arrival in North Carolina has created loads of turnover on the roster, because the Tar Heels have introduced in 70 new gamers from a 12 months in the past — together with 30 transfers following spring ball.
And because the Tar Heels look to select up the items coming into subsequent week’s matchup in opposition to UNC Charlotte, it’s clear that Belichick’s teaching resume alone gained’t be sufficient to raise his workforce right into a juggernaut — not less than not in brief order.
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