UNC-Charlotte: Bill Belichick Postgame Q&A

CHARLOTTE, N.C. — North Carolina secured its first win of the season by knocking off Charlotte 20-3 on Saturday night in front of a record crowd at Jerry Richardson Stadium. 

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Gio Lopez finished 17-of-25 passing for 155 yards and one touchdown, and added 44 rushing yards. Chris Culliver hauled in three catches for 74 yards and a touchdown, but departed in the second quarter with a shoulder injury and didn’t return. Carolina’s offense went dormant in the second half, recording just 64 total yards over the final two quarters, including just 10 passing yards during that span.

UNC’s defense shutout Charlotte in the second half. It’s the fewest points allowed by UNC since 2012. Carolina’s sack drought came to an end at the 7:53 mark of the third quarter — more than 97 minutes of game time into this young season — when linebacker Andrew Simpson took down Conner Harrell for an 11-yard loss. By that juncture, Carolina was the last team in the country among the Power 4 ranks to register a sack this season. 

Here are the key points from coach Bill Belichick following his first career college win. Also, scroll down for the full video of the interview …

Opening Statement

“A lot better tonight and the rain delay was challenging for both teams, obviously. But things got going, and I thought we did a good job not turning the ball over, which was a big improvement from last week. Played better defense, tackled better and played better in the kicking game. We had some decent field position in the kicking game. So I thought overall, it was a solid effort. Certainly, a lot of room for improvement. We can do a better job in all the areas, coaching fundamentals, playing, missed some opportunities, but thought these players deserved it. They played well tonight, and again, came back after a short week, went on the road and came in here and got the win. So good win and we’ll move on.”

How special is it to get your first college win?

“It’s great, but it’s really about the team. The players went out there and made the plays tonight. Staff did do a great job. It’s disappointing Monday night against TCU, but these guys bounced back, all of them, players, coaches, our staff, support, people, everybody. And just got back to work, we were determined to have a better outcome. And so I was really proud of what they did. They’re the ones that really deserve the credit tonight.”

The drive right before the half to score a touchdown felt like a big moment in this game. What was working on that drive?

“That was a big drive for us. I thought that Gio (Lopez) and Freddie (Kitchens), offensive coordinator, they really managed the clock well. We made a couple first downs, and then we got into position to score, and ultimately got the touchdown with only a few seconds left on the clock. So that was a big swing for us, that we had a similar situation last week against TCU, and we kind of messed that up. And then they ended up kicking a field goal at the end of the half. So that was a big drive for us there to close out the half. Very well executed. … One of the real highlights of the night, honestly, was putting together that drive at that time in the game.”

It looked like Gio was working more on the move tonight. Was that more of what you guys envisioned for him, as compared to what you saw from him against TCU?

“We got him outside on a couple plays. Gio, I thought that did a really good job of improvising and extending some plays where there wasn’t much there, and he was able to extend the play one way or another. Either to throw it or to pull the ball down and run and pick up positive yardage. I think that’s one of his real strengths as a quarterback, is just kind of his gamesmanship, and making plays in those situations. He really helped us out here a couple times where he either got the first down or got us pretty close to the first down on second down on plays that he extended. The offensive line did a good job too, kind of moving the pocket out so there was some space for him to move. So some of it was designed. A lot of it was just Gio being Gio, which is good.”

Reports came out this week of New England Patriots scouts being banned from your practices and games. Do you have any comment on that to provide some explanation?

“Yeah, it’s clear that I’m not welcome there, around their facility, and so they’re not welcome at ours. Pretty simple.”

Two games in, what differences have you noticed in coaching in the NFL versus in college?

“Coaching is coaching. You get into the game and you try to do the best you can to help your team win, and what the other team does schematically or strategically or from a personnel standpoint. You’re still looking to create advantages for your team, of those match ups and those schematics, so that part is the same. Each team has its own style of play. It’s a lot different coaching against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens than it was coaching against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. They’re different, but it’s still the same competition. That’s coaching. Coaching is coaching, especially during the game, you’re just trying to do the best you can to help your team.”

Did you sense your team had a desire from your team to prove that Monday’s performance against TCU wasn’t indicative of who they are?

“Yeah, absolutely. That was kind of clear in a locker room and as we got out of the practice field (this) week that, not that there wasn’t going into TCU, but there was just kind of a higher level of determination and commitment and recognition of the areas we were deficient in against TCU last week. So it’s good to see some of those improve.”

Do you have any update on Chris Culliver?

“No. He wasn’t able to come back. We’ll see what it is. Hopefully it isn’t anything too serious, but he just wasn’t able to finish tonight. But we’ll see. He’s a tough kid, so we’ll see how it goes.”