Bill Belichick reacts to first win as college football coach

Bill Belichick earned his first win as North Carolina head coach Saturday vs. Charlotte, but the longtime coach deflected. He gave all the credit to his players and staff for the 20-3 victory.

The offense was in sync, more so than the TCU game Week 1. Not only that, the defense forced two turnovers to deny any momentum for Charlotte.

“It’s great, but it’s really about the team,” Belichick said. “You know, the players went out there, made the plays tonight. Staff did a great job. You know, it’s disappointing Monday night against TCU, but you know, these guys bounced back, all of them, players, coaches, our staff, support, people, everybody, and just got back to work. 

“And you know, we’re determined to (get a) better outcome and so, yeah, really proud of what they did. You know, they’re the ones who really deserve the credit tonight.”

Gio Lopez bounced back at QB for North Carolina. He was 17-of-25 passing for 155 yards, one touchdown and added 52 yards rushing. Davion Gause carried the ball five times for 30 yards and a score.

The Tar Heels built a 17-3 lead at halftime and cruised to victory. It was much needed for Belichick and company.

“I mean, coaching is coaching,” Belichick said. “You get into the game and you try to do the best you can to help your team win, and what the other team does schematically or strategically or from a personnel standpoint. I mean, you’re still looking to try to create advantages for your team of those matchups, and those, you know, schematics, so that part is the same (as the NFL).” 

Belichick followed up and mentioned, despite going from the pros to college, the basic fundamentals of the game are the same. You have to approach it the same, in terms of schematics and creating advantages for your own team.

“Each team has its own style of play,” Belichick said. “You know, it’s different coaching against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens than it was coaching against Pat Mahomes and the Chiefs, but they’re still, you know, they’re different, but it’s still the same competition. 

“So, you know, that’s the coaching. Coaching is coaching, especially during the game, you know, you’re just trying to do the best you can to help your team … I mean, it’s always good to win. It’s hard to win. We saw that last week. It’s hard to win. You’ve got to do a lot of things, right? You got to do them better than your opponent. And so today we were fortunate to do that. So it’s good to be part of it … But look, I didn’t make any blocks, tackles, catches, runs, or anything else out there. Players made them, and they’re the ones who deserve the credit for the win.”