Doubtful message sent on UNC Tar Heels football coach Bill Belichick having patience to stay in Chapel Hill for long

North Carolina Tar Heels football coach Bill Belichick’s team has been so unimpressive through its first two Power 4 games, a 48-14 loss to the TCU Horned Frogs at home on Labor Day, and a 34-9 loss to the UCF Knights at the Bounce House this past Saturday, that his time in Chapel Hill is already seen as an hour glass quickly losing sand.

Sports Illustrated’s Patrick Andres believes Belichick may not have the patience to withstand a long, potentially painful rebuild in the Tar Heel State.

“North Carolina recovered fairly well after being drubbed by TCU to start its season, dominating Charlotte and Richmond in back-to-back weeks,” Andres wrote. “How would the Tar Heels fare against a Power Four opponent in UCF Saturday? The answer was quite poorly, as the Knights jumped out to a 20–3 lead at the half and wound up knocking North Carolina quarterback Gio Lopez from the game. On the one hand, the Tar Heels can—to a degree—afford to be patient with this experiment. On the other hand, can the 73-year-old Belichick?”

After coming from the NFL, coaching the New England Patriots to six Super Bowls, and spending his final few years watching Tom Brady win more than him with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, Belichick will not want to face constant media scrutiny for how he’s mismanaging North Carolina.

His relationship will suffer. Unless he and Jordon Hudson are given carte blanche. Then it’s UNC that will suffer in the short and long term. Reputable coaches will think twice before choosing the Tar Heels after watching what they’re allowing now with Belichick and Hudson.

Based on the early results, Belichick’s coaching staff is nowhere close to being able to coach up the underwhelming talent assembled in a short time via the transfer portal. Much of this roster probably isn’t carrying over to 2026, and there’s now one less portal window for coaches to accumulate talent.

It’s only going to get more difficult to figure this out. And the noise is only going to grow louder if/when the losing continues.

Belichick probably isn’t seeing his five-year contract through.