CHAPEL HILL, N.C. (WNCN) — Day 1 of UNC-Chapel Hill football has begun, and despite all of the buzz around the hiring of former NFL head coach Bill Belichick, the focus was on what the Tar Heels plan to do this season.
In a news conference ahead of practice, Belichick expressed general excitement about day 1 of practice, specifically about how much he looks forward to getting all of his players acclimated to the field.
“We have a lot of new players, a little over 40 from the spring and 70 from last year’s team,” said Belichick. “It’s a lot of people to get up to speed — communication, the way we practice, techniques — things like that. Coaches have done a good job closing that gap, and we are excited to get on the field and see it come together.”
UNC currently has a preseason ranking of eighth in the ACC, just behind Duke, who is ranked sixth. None of the players on the Tar Heels roster were selected to be on the All-ACC preseason team.
That doesn’t seem to bother the head coach, who simply called the news about the rankings “noise.”
“That doesn’t affect us,” said Belichick. “We’re gonna compete on Saturday, or Monday or whatever day it is, and that will determine what happens — not some predictions or projections.”
UNC has sold out of tickets to their football games over the summer, including single-game and season passes, in anticipation of what the former NFL and Super Bowl championship coach has planned for the team.
The coaching staff at UNC looks to add an aggressive running game to its package. In the news conference, Belichick said offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens wants to have a physical presence on offense.
“I think we have the players to run that type of offense,” said Belichick. “I’m sure we’re gonna have to modify it a little bit. But we have good depth at quarterback, so we’ll see how it all plays out.”
Belichick had high praise for Kitchens to handle any adjustments this season, who spent the last half of the 2023-24 season as the former interim head coach of the Tar Heels.
“Freddie has a lot of experience, spent a lot of time in college football, and it’s honestly been very helpful for me that he was here the last couple of years,” he said. “He has a lot of experience and perspective on some of the things that were done well that we could build on, but also some things that we’re changing.”
The first game of the season is against TCU at Kenan Stadium, which will air primetime on Labor Day, September 1, at 8 p.m. on ESPN.