Joel Klatt buying stock in UNC in 2025 ahead of Bill Belichick debut season

As weird as it sounds, Bill Belichick is preparing for his first season at North Carolina. After decades in the NFL, Belichick is making his college debut on Sept. 1 against the TCU Horned Frogs. Nobody truly knows how this experiment will work but FOX’s Joel Klatt is buying into the Tar Heels in 2025.

Two main reasons stick out to Klatt, with the first one being the head coach himself. Belichick may be new at this level but arguably has the most decorated resume of any coach out there. Klatt has faith Belichick will lean on prior experiences and do a great job preparing North Carolina for the task ahead.

“I don’t think Bill Belichick cares what all the noise is this offseason, I really don’t,” Klatt said. “What people are talking about, who they are talking about. I think he cares about getting the roster — the team, the players — believe they can just go out there and do their job.

“And if you do that, in that conference, against that schedule, I don’t think anyone is running away from them. So there’s a good chance this is a team that’s going to be in a lot of games that they play.”

Klatt did mention how portal-heavy North Carolina’s roster is. However, the quarterback is the most important aspect of why success might come. Gio Lopez is the projected starter after coming over from South Alabama. Only seven interceptions in 373 career pass attempts jump off for Klatt, saying Belichick knows turnovers won’t come from his quarterback.

Which leads into his second reason for buying UNC stock moving forward. Owning the turnover battle usually helps teams find wins, especially against opponents with similar talent level. And Klatt really likes how the schedule shapes up this fall.

“The schedule sets up really well,” Klatt said. “They’re in the ACC, so it’s not like they’re going to be playing a ton of games against teams with marginally better talent than them. Maybe Clemson is on that list. That’s their toughest game by far. I think only one top 25 game this year, that’s Clemson. They don’t play SMU, Miami, Louisville, Georgia Tech, or Florida State… If you lose to Clemson, it’s like ‘Who cares?'”

For Klatt to cash in, he would consider eight or nine wins the right number. This comes after North Carolina finished 2024’s regular season 6-6 before a bowl loss. You have to imagine Belichick would be quick to agree with the FOX analyst, likely considering it a positive first season in charge.