Bill Belichick after blowout loss in North Carolina debut: 'We have a lot of work to do'

Week 1 of the college football season ended on Labor Day night with what was supposed to be a coronation for head coach Bill Belichick at North Carolina. That quickly turned into a nightmare, though, with the TCU Horned Frogs entering Chapel Hill and winning 48-14.

The game got away from North Carolina quickly, with turnovers and failed drives giving TCU a chance to run away and hide. Those 48 points allowed would be noted by the broadcast as the most Belichick has ever allowed as a head coach. Now, he admitted that there’s a lot of work to do in Chapel Hill.

“Was a great, you know, great atmosphere here for the game tonight,” Bill Belichick said. “Fans had tremendous energy and a lot, and, we played competitively, but then just couldn’t sustain it. So, obviously, we have a lot of work to do. You know, did do a better job all the way around, coaching, playing all three phases of the game, just wasn’t up to what it needs to be.”

North Carolina opened the game with a long touchdown drive in a packed Kenan Stadium that was full of school legends, like Lawrence Taylor, Michael Jordan, and Mia Hamm. After that touchdown drive, however, nothing seemed to go right for North Carolina on offense. In the end, the offense would only be able to convert 10 first downs and was just 1/10 on third down conversions. After adding three turnovers, one of which was a pick-six, there was very little to get excited about on that side of the ball.

Bill Belichick is noted as one of the greatest coaches in NFL history. That has seen him win six Super Bowls as a head coach. That isn’t to say his teams have never had a bad night before. His iconic, “We’re on to Cincinnati” press conference came after one of those losses. In fact, that was a 41-14 loss to Kansas City. That season ended in a New England Super Bowl win. So, the season isn’t over, and there’s a chance for this team to improve.

“I know we’re a lot better than that. So we need to, you know, need to work on those things and show it on Saturday and turn around. But, you know, give TCU credit, they came in and did a good job,” Belichick said. “And they were clearly the better team tonight, you know, they deserve to win. And they did it decisively.”

The target is on North Carolina’s back and Belichick does need to fix what’s broken quickly. That starts next week against Charlotte, a Group of Five team in the state that is going to be looking for a marquee win against the Tar Heels.