Urban Meyer shreds North Carolina after film review: 'They're worse on tape than I thought they were'

The excitement for the Bill Belichick era at North Carolina was palpable. Then, the Tar Heels got blown out by TCU. From there, they’d quietly beat a pair of overmatched teams from the Group of Five and FCS ranks, respectively, before getting blown out by another Big 12 team in UCF. Now, sitting at 2-2, Belichick is looking for answers.

If he checks the tape, he may not like what he sees, though. Urban Meyer did his own film study on North Carolina, and as he explained on The Triple Option, what they’re putting out there is bad. In fact, there’s not much to like at all on either side of the ball.

“I wanted to do a little homework,” Meyer said. “I watched their videotape or some tape on it. They’re worse on tape than I thought they would be. I’m not saying just — because you can say, ‘We have really bad players.’ Okay, you brought in 70 new people.”

Ultimately, Meyer sees issues on both sides of the ball for North Carolina, which could partially be related to those new players. However, mental mistakes aren’t something you expect to see from a Belichick team, particularly on the defensive side of the ball. They’re making those, though. That’s before considering the disaster that the Tar Heels have been on offense.

“But I’m seeing things. Just misfits on defense,” Meyer said. “Which means as a linebacker takes on a block, he’s supposed to send that to the unblocked safety. So, if the safety’s inside, I’m taking on the blocker with my inside shoulder to force it to him. It’s not happening. Then, on the offensive side, it’s a trainwreck. So, I don’t know. I don’t think it ends well. Hate to say that.”

Now sitting at 2-2, North Carolina is 61st nationally in total defense, allowing 344.5 yards per game. The Tar Heels are also 67th in scoring defense, giving up 22.8 points per game. That’s being paired with a total offense that is 134th in the country, averaging 263.5 yards per game, and a scoring offense that is 107th, averaging 21 points per game.

Belichick and North Carolina have a bye week now. If what Urban Meyer has seen when he’s gone back and studied their film has merit, they’ll need to take some time to take major strides forward on both sides of the ball. After that, the Tar Heels open ACC play by hosting Clemson in a game both teams need to turn their respective seasons around.