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One anonymous coach questioned how Bill Belichick built his UNC roster.
When the 2025 college football season began, there were a lot of eyes on Bill Belichick and North Carolina. Through five games, things are not going as many had planned on it going.
On Saturday in Chapel Hill, Dabo Swinney and Clemson came to town and scored 28 first-quarter points on their way to a 38-10 win. It wasn’t pretty for the Tar Heels and Belichick. They played the second half in front of nearly an empty stadium.
Former New England Patriots running back Damien Harris didn’t beat around the bush about his former coach and his first five college games.
Damien Harris Delivers the Hard Truth About Bill Belichick
North Carolina’s offense has been nothing short of bad this year. Against the Tigers, they were 2-for-11 on third downs and didn’t find the end zone until the fourth quarter. They rank near the bottom of the FBS in averaging points per game at 18.1 a game.
Even before Saturday’s game, Harris, a CBS Sports College Football analyst, didn’t hold back when discussing where things stand through five at UNC with Belichick.
“When you talk about the legacy of Bill Belichick, it is just going down, and down, and down, and down,” said Harris. “Their offense has been atrocious. You wanna talk about quarterback play? It’s been bad. They are almost dead last out of almost 136 FBS teams in points per game, yards per game, yards per play, and third down conversions.
“Now luckily, they cracked the top-70 in red zone scoring, but guess what the problem is? They can’t get to the red zone,” Harris continued. “They only have 11 trips in the red zone. It is not good.”
No, it’s not good at all. This was said before the game, and it is almost like Harris knew what was coming against Clemson. The game was, without a doubt, another bad look for Belichick in his first college job.
Bill Belichick Enters a Bye Week After Another Ugly Loss
This was North Carolina’s third loss of the season, and each has not been competitive. They lost 48-14 to TCU, 34-9 to Central Florida, and Saturday’s loss to Clemson. Harris said that his former coach needs to change things at UNC to build a brand heading into a bye week.
“When I look at Bill Belichick, and I look at his coaching legacy, and I look at what he has brought to the game of football, it is not what we are seeing is being played in Chapel Hill right now,” Harris said. If Bill Belichick is going to remain the head coach at North Carolina which, as of right now, it looks like that’s gonna be the case because we haven’t heard any rumblings about him returning to the NFL, you’ve gotta start to build a brand.
“We know that North Carolina is a brand because of Michael Jordan, because of Julius Peppers, because of all the stars he brings back to the game. Guess what, you need to continue to add to this legacy. This isn’t just gonna come in and be the North Carolina Patriots. You have to do, and act, and coach, and lead in a way that is gonna produce wins, because we know this is a production-based business and you’ve got to win right now.”
Ask any of the college coaches fired already this year about college football being a production-based business. The results haven’t been good through five games for North Carolina.
They return to the field on October 17 at California. Then they alternate home and away games the rest of the season. Harris said what a lot of people are thinking early in Belichick’s tenure with the Tar Heels.
Scott Roche Scott Roche covers college football for Heavy.com and has three decades of sports writing, covering everything from college to professional sports. More about Scott Roche
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