After Months Of Build-Up, Bill Belichick's Tar Heels Fall Short Of Moment

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — North Carolina’s pregame Old Well Walk was received with substantial excitement, as fans couldn’t help but express their astonishment when Bill Belichick walked off the team bus with his navy blue, Jordan Brand UNC jacket and sweatsuit with some Carolina Blue kicks to match. 

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“I just looked at Bill Belichick!” One student eagerly exclaimed. “He’s real!”

The significance wasn’t lost on the crowd gathered around the Old Well, but how could it be? ESPN’s College GameDay brought out its heavy hitters for UNC’s Monday night game against TCU — the only college football game that took place on Labor Day night. Months of anticipation since Belichick’s hire in December brought another level of national attention and financial investment into North Carolina’s football program.

The pregame scene in Chapel Hill made it clear that this wasn’t just another exhibition, but rather an extravaganza. Tents for face painting and balloon twisting were set up outside of The Pit, with inflatable stations for kids posted up in front of Davis Library. UNC’s Polk Place area was flooded with Tar Heel Blue as fans waited for Chase Rice to take the stage for North Carolina’s highly promoted concert series. The buzz on Franklin Street about having the longtime, Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots coach on the sidelines was palpable.

Enthusiasm mounted once fans started to fill up Kenan Stadium, too. When Belichick emerged from the tunnel in his grey cutoff hoodie, the student section immediately went crazy. North Carolina’s very own Petey Pablo introduced the team pregame as they ran out of the tunnel with the iconic “Raise Up” track playing for them. The likes of UNC legends Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor and Roy Williams were in the building, seated together while cheering on Belichick for his first game.

Monday night’s spectacle met the moment in every way — every way except for the on-field product. The Tar Heels looked several steps behind their opponent in a 48-14 home loss to TCU, tarnishing a game that was Belichick’s first test in his first year in college.

“Yeah, it was a great environment tonight,” Belichick said late Monday night after the game. “Fans are awesome. It’s great energy in the stadium. We just didn’t do enough to keep it going. We’ve got to play better for the energy to be sustainable.”

The build-up to the game couldn’t have been better. UNC did its part with the in-house videos, behind-the-scenes content on social media and a revamped game day experience.

The team initially built off the hype to start the game, as Gio Lopez helped lead UNC down the field with a couple of big throws to Jordan Shipp to set up Caleb Hood for an eight-yard touchdown run. The defense followed that up by getting TCU’s offense off the field in four plays and forcing a punt.

After that, though, the offense completely stalled out. The unit logged just 31 yards of offense in its next seven drives, and it finished the game with three turnovers. UNC’s defense had nothing for the Horned Frogs on the other end, as the Tar Heels gave up 284 yards in the passing game and 258 yards in the run game. TCU recorded 7.4 yards per carry on the ground.

“I mean, we just can’t perform well doing some of the things that we did,” Belichick said. “We’ve got to be better than that, and obviously we’ve got to deal with Charlotte (on Saturday) and the problems they present. But we had too many self-inflicted wounds that we have to eliminate before we can worry about addressing our opponents.”

Monday night’s main event was a letdown. North Carolina struggled to keep up with the visiting Horned Frogs, and the game got away from UNC by the third quarter. In Belichick’s debut, his squad posed no threat and offered little resistance.

The Belichick era is still in the early stages, as rough a debut as Monday was. The luster took a hit, though, with a disappointing opening performance in Chapel Hill. A once-packed Kenan Stadium crowd started bleeding out in the third quarter, and it was practically empty before the clock showed its final zero.

Belichick placed an emphasis on UNC to be football’s “33rd NFL team” throughout the offseason, a mantra that held consistent from his arrival to his debut. But in Monday’s opener, it was clear that TCU was out of North Carolina’s league.