Desmond Howard has 'a lot of confidence and faith' in Bill Belichick after North Carolina blowout loss

North Carolina opened its tenure under Bill Belichick with a primetime blowout at the hands of the TCU Horned Frogs. That said, coming out of that loss, Desmond Howard doesn’t doubt what his time there can still be, more so as he continues on as head coach.

Appearing on ‘The Rich Eisen Show’ on Wednesday, Howard, who was in attendance to watch the 48-14 loss for the Tar Heels on Monday night, considered where Belichick fits in college coaching, especially in this era. He thought that this could still very much work, but that it might be a longer-term effort than what many assumed it would just be upon his arrival in Chapel Hill.

“I do think that, because of Bill Belichick’s M.O. and who he is as a person who, not only can he spot untapped potential in players but he also can extract all of that talent out of guys? He does a really good job developing players, too,” Howard said. “So, you know, they got their nose bloody the first one, but his M.O. is developing players and getting the most out of them, and I still do have a lot of confidence and faith that he’ll be able to do that.

“It’s just not going to be the flip-the-switch, change things overnight job that people anticipated because he came to Chapel Hill with six Super Bowl rings. It’s not that easy. It may take two or three years for him to get the program to where he wants it to be, so they’re going to have to be patient.”

To be fair, that might’ve been the expectation that needed to be set at UNC. That’s already the case as, despite his resumé in the NFL, Belichick has never before coached in college. Add in the roster overhaul, and that development the Tar Heels still don’t yet have from year-over-year under his staff, and this project was always more so to be a long-term one than a short-term effort.

Still, this was just one game for North Carolina under Belichick. There are still more games this season and likely more to come under his tenure, which is what Howard is buying into as far as when he’ll create some real success with the Tar Heels.

Howard assesses North Carolina’s blowout loss in opener to TCU

Seeing the game on Labor Day night, Howard saw one team in TCU that was far more complete than North Carolina. That was the case, especially on the lines of scrimmage and at quarterback, the Horned Frogs went on to win on the road by 34 points.

“Yeah, I’ll tell you what. (The Tar Heels) have to get tougher in the trenches. We can start there. I was talking to some TCU coaches on the sideline and they thought they had a distinct advantage in the trenches. They thought they would be able to control the line of scrimmage both offensively and defensively, which is what they did,” Howard said while breaking down the matchup. “And, Josh Hoover, their quarterback? Really, really good. He’s probably the number two quarterback in the Big 12, only second to Sam Leavitt of Arizona State. So, yeah, he’s really good.”