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Former New England Patriots head coach Bill Belichick hasn’t exactly gotten off to a stellar start to his new job at the helm of the North Carolina Tar Heels. In fact, Belichick’s 2025 Tar Heels are among the worst teams in program history through five games, per USA Today’s Rodd Baxley and Matthew Glenesk.
“It’s been nearly 137 years since UNC played its inaugural game against Wake Forest at the North Carolina State Fair,” Baxley and Glenesk wrote. “No team since the program’s inception has been worse than Belichick’s team through three Power Four games. The Tar Heels (2-3, 0-1 ACC) have lost each of their three games against P4 programs, outscored 120-33 in blowout defeats to TCU, UCF and Clemson. That 87-point margin in the first three games against P4 teams is the worst in program history.”
Belichick’s five-year, $50 million contract hasn’t stopped rumors from emerging that Belichick could walk away from UNC as early as the middle of the current season.
The buzz has grown significantly loud enough that Belichick himself has had to come out and make a statement.
“Reports about my looking for a buyout or trying to leave here is categorically false,” Belichick said during a Monday media session, per ESPN’s David Hale. “There’s zero truth to any of that. I’m glad I’m here. We’re working toward our goals. We believe very much in the process. We need to just keep working and grinding away and that’s exactly what we’re doing.”
“It’s a learning curve,” Belichick continued, per Hale. “We’re all in it together. But we’re making a lot of progress, and the process will eventually produce the results we want like they have everywhere else I’ve been.”
This wasn’t the first time that Belichick has made public statements about his job status.
The six-time Super Bowl champion coach has dealt with a ton of scrutiny from the media in his first college season. In particular, his decision to bar Patriots coaches from UNC’s facilities drew a ton of criticism.
Through it all, Belichick remains focused on the goal at hand, even if he refers to that goal obscurely to the media.
“Everybody’s most interested in the final score, and I’m at the top of that list,” he said on Monday, per Hale. “But it’s a process. You build a culture, you build a program, and eventually the results will come. When will that happen? Hopefully as soon as possible. We’re working hard to get there.”
The popular opinion on Belichick these days is that he is staining his legacy at UNC, and that he would have been better off walking away from the game after his legendary stint with New England.
It remains to be seen whether that opinion will solidify into near fact in the years to come.
