Why we should have expected Belichick to struggle at North Carolina

North Carolina has been one of the worst teams in the Power 4 Conference this season. They have been outscored 120-33 in 3 games against Power 4 teams in 3 losses. Including the last game against Clemson, when they beat North Carolina 38-10. This was a Clemson team that entered the game 1-3 and largely struggled this season. North Carolina was their magic pill to help them improve and get a win. North Carolina has struggled mightily, and it does not like that any improvement is happening this season.

Nobody should be surprised by the struggles of Bill Belichick at North Carolina this year. Belichick has never coached in college before, and he has never had to deal with the transfer portal or NIL before. Then his top evaluator, Mike Lombardi, has not been in College Football since 1984, and you have a recipe for disaster. They did use the transfer portal and signed 40 players.  They added a total of 70 players, which is a massive roster transformation.  What is obvious is that most of these players are not good enough players to compete in a Power 4 Conference.

A prime example of how North Carolina and Belichick hurt their roster was their inability to keep good players off last year’s team. Beau Atkinson was a good edge defender who led North Carolina in sacks last year. He has since transferred to Ohio State. Amare Campbell was another prime example of a good player who transferred. He ended up at Penn State, where he has been making an impact this season. So far this season, he has 29 tackles and 2 sacks. Both players would have been good players to keep on the roster, but Belichick did not seem to have any interest in keeping either player.

The other problem has been the coaching staff Belichick has hired. Part of the family and friends club is his son, Steve Belichick, who serves as the defensive coordinator. He was Washington’s defensive coordinator with mixed results last year. Then you add Freddie Kitchens as offensive coordinator, who hasn’t called plays since he was in the NFL with the Cleveland Browns as Head Coach, and he was fired after that season. Let's say Belichick did not assemble the best coaching staff to help him be successful in North Carolina.

The bright spot for North Carolina is that they currently have the 17th-ranked recruiting class in the 2026 class. This would give me hope if I were a North Carolina fan, but the question is, how long will Belichick stay in North Carolina? Belichick is currently 73 years old, and returning to the NFL is a possibility. Retirement is another possibility for him. He might even be angling to give his son the Head Coaching job. The question is, why would North Carolina agree to this after all the struggles Belichick has had at North Carolina? No matter what, North Carolina under Belichick is a bad place, and there is no end I sight when it will improve.

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