2025 Preseason Herbie Awards: Bill Belichick, UNC wins Can't Wait to Watch honor

One of this year’s biggest storylines will be in Chapel Hill where Bill Belichick is taking on his first college football coaching job. He took over for Mack Brown at North Carolina and has completely overhauled the roster.

ESPN’s Kirk Herbstreit said he can’t wait to see how the legendary coach does at UNC. That’s why Belichick won the Can’t Wait to Watch honor during the 2025 Preseason Herbie Awards.

Belichick won six Super Bowls as a head coach in the NFL and has said he wants to make North Carolina the “33rd team” in the league. His focus will be on development, but with a total overhaul of the roster, the excitement is building for “Chapel Bill.”

“I can’t wait to see him bring that same blueprint that worked so well in the NFL for so many years into the college ranks,” Herbstreit said on the show. “You look at their schedule, it’s favorable. Mack Brown left some talented players. [Belichick] brought in, obviously, a ton of new players. But I think we’re anxious to see just the fundamentals, the old-school way of playing the game and how these young players pick up the message he’s trying to send to them and the culture that he’s trying to create.”

Belichick’s arrival at North Carolina came after a Hall of Fame-caliber career in the NFL, where he made his biggest impact on the New England Patriots. He led the franchise to six Super Bowls with Tom Brady at quarterback before parting ways after the 2023 season. All told, Belichick had a 266-121 record with the Pats.

Bill Belichick is currently wrapping his first training camp at North Carolina, and the season opener is set for Sept. 1 in primetime against TCU. Anticipation is building for the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach’s debut at the college level, and ticket prices are soaring. ESPN also sees “potential” for boosted TV ratings similar to when Deion Sanders took over at Colorado in 2023.

“We have to wait and see. The potential is there,” said Kurt Dargis, ESPN senior director of programming and acquisitions, in an interview with Front Office Sports. “There’s definitely interest in him outside the typical college football fan.

“Deion was such a phenomenon. I still can’t believe some of the numbers we got that first year he was there. It’s too early to say.”