Bill Belichick forces NFL scouts to 'decode' UNC roster during season opener

All eyes are on Bill Belichick’s debut as North Carolina head coach against TCU on Monday night. That includes a horde of NFL teams and scouts on-hand inside Kenan Stadium.

However, Belichick has decided to make life as hard as possible for those looking to evaluate North Carolina’s talent. The two-deep, or depth chart, is literally blank with positions only.

“Amid all the A-list celebrities here on the sideline, there are 14 NFL teams and more than 20 NFL scouts,” ESPN’s Pete Thamel said on College Football Countdown. “Part of the reason there are so many here is Bill Belichick has been really restrictive to NFL scouts, and the games have continued on the sidelines tonight, guys.. This is the roster, the two-deep that UNC has given. As you can see, there are no names on the two-deep. So, the scouts are walking around, with big smiles on their faces, trying to decode who to look at.”

This appears to be a classic Belichick misdirection. Belichick has been known to be short with media and disclose as little as possible throughout his career as an NFL coach. It doesn’t appear as if anything has changed as he gets off on his new venture in college.

Now, not only do the scouts not know who’s playing where and in which position, but neither do their opponents. It makes it even harder given the amount of turnover on UNC’s roster this season. However, Thamel noted that there are only a couple of players that scouts are in Chapel Hill to analyze.

“I’ve been told there are really only two UNC players who are likely to be drafted this year,” Thamel continued. “Pat just mentioned Thaddeus Dixon, the corner who came over from Washington. He’s one of them, and the other is named Marcus Allen. Dixon may be considered a Top-100 prospect but, if Bill Belichick wants to build UNC, they have a long way to go from a pure talent perspective.”

Fans at least won’t be guessing on the starting quarterback, as it was announced last week that South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez won the job. Lopez joined the Tar Heels after serving as the Jaguars’ full-time starter during the 2024 campaign, completing 66% of his passes for 2,559 yards and 18 touchdowns compared to just five interceptions. He also amassed 465 rushing yards and seven TDs on 85 carries.

On3’s Chandler Vessels contributed to this report.