CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — Jordan Shipp remembers the conversation with his roommates after learning Bill Belichick was North Carolina’s new coach.
“It was just like, ‘That’s the greatest coach of all time,’” the receiver recalled, “‘and he’s about to be coaching us.’”
Belichick’s arrival has triggered plenty of change for the Tar Heels, who are making a big bet on the man who won six Super Bowls as an NFL head coach to spark their football program. No one knows that better than the players — both the holdovers and the transfer-portal arrivals — after months of Belichick overhauling the roster and building the foundation on his first college team.
North Carolina players hadn’t spoken to reporters since last year’s team ended its season with a Fenway Bowl loss to UConn three days after Christmas, all of which came after Belichick had been hired as coach for the 2025 season.
So Tuesday marked the first time UNC had made players available to reporters since then to discuss Belichick’s arrival. That has meant being coached by someone with a long track record of success at the sport’s highest level, along with getting a peek behind the terse and grumpy persona he was known for with the New England Patriots.
Defensive back Will Hardy said the players are used to curiosity that comes with being coached by the NFL lifer now giving college a try.
“There’s a lot of that, you get a lot of ‘How is Coach Belichick? What’s new? What’s different?’” Hardy said. “So I’ve rehearsed these questions a lot with family and friends.”
Formative stages
The school hired Belichick in December to elevate the program at a time when football’s role as the revenue driver in college sports has never been bigger.
He and general manager Michael Lombardi…
Source link : https://www.nbcsports.com/college-football/news/tar-heels-players-embrace-new-world-as-part-of-coach-bill-belichicks-first-college-team
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Publish date : 2025-06-12 03:19:00
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