Bill Belichick reaffirms confidence in UNC, future after slow start to first season

Bill Belichick reaffirmed his confidence in North Carolina’s future despite a slow start to the 2025 season. UNC is just 2-2 with Clemson coming to Chapel Hill Saturday.

The Tar Heels’ two wins came over the likes of Charlotte and Richmond while getting blown out by TCU and UCF. Belichick knows there’s a challenge in Week 6 with the Tigers coming to town, but he remained confident in this year’s team and what’s to come.

Transitioning from the NFL to college was certainly a change for the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach. But if he’s to bring a high level of success to North Carolina, it might be on the way shortly.

“We got a big recruiting class coming in,” Belichick said on College GameDay. “We missed a couple recruiting classes from the last two years. We only got just, you know, a handful of players that are playing so, you know, we’ll get some try to build through the recruiting classes and then supplement that with some transfer guys. But we need a couple good recruiting classes, and I think we’re on the way to getting those.”

Maybe 2026 and/or ‘27 will be better than the 2025 season, but North Carolina could certainly change a lot of perspectives if they can knock off a reeling Clemson team. Belichick noted there’s been improvements week to week within his program.

“Yeah, it’s been awesome,” Belichick said. “I love working with the kids. I love watching them develop both as kids and people and players. They got a lot better. They’ve worked really hard. I’m excited to do that with more young guys coming in here, and support from the school has been great, Chancellor Roberts and his staff. So you know, it’s gonna be a little bit of a process, but we’re grinding away. We’re definitely getting a lot better each week, and I’m sure we’ll get better each year.”

North Carolina is expected to switch QBs and go with veteran Max Johnson Saturday. Inside Carolina’s Adam Smith reported the news Friday. That could be the type of move from Belichick to spark the team.

“I expect for Max to have probably a breakout game,” UNC defensive lineman D’Antre Robinson said Thursday, when asked about Johnson as the potential starter for the Tar Heels. “He’s been a very good leader for us on the field. He’s been talking a lot more, talking to the whole team. He’s been giving a lot of motivation for the team, so I hope he goes out there and has a big game for us.”