Why Bill Belichick Believes North Carolina Will Be 'In Much Better Shape Next Year'

Belichick's Tar Heels won just four games in his first season in Chapel Hill.

Belichick is entering his second season as coach of the Tar Heels in 2026. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

From the very beginning, Bill Belichick’s tenure in Chapel Hill didn’t go as planned. The Tar Heels opened the season with a lopsided loss to TCU at home, and while they righted the ship by winning their next two games, the program never found any consistency en route to a disappointing 4-8 season.

But Belichick believes better days are ahead for his Tar Heels in 2026. During an appearance on College GameDay ahead of the national championship between the Indiana Hoosiers and Miami Hurricanes, Belichick explained why he expects better fortunes for the Tar Heels in his second season at the helm.

Bill Belichick joins College GameDay to recap his transition from coaching NFL pros to college athletes 🔥 pic.twitter.com/hlvGqmBNg3

— College GameDay (@CollegeGameDay) January 19, 2026

“...We didn’t really have a recruiting class last year,” Belichick said. “Lot of new players—70 new players to start the season. This year, we’re going to be in much better shape.”

Belichick, who was hired in December of 2024, hit the ground running in the unfamiliar terrain of the college football recruiting world, as the Tar Heels underwent a complete roster overhaul, with many of the additions coming from the spring transfer portal. All told, as Belichick indicated on his GameDay appearance, there were as many as 70 new players on the 2025 team compared to the 2024 squad.

And there were plenty of growing pains for the brand-new roster. The blowout loss in the first game of the season against the Horned Frogs. A 25-point road loss to UCF followed by a 38-10 loss to Clemson at home in which many disgusted Tar Heels fans left before halftime. So dire at one point were the prospects of the Tar Heels that general manager Michael Lombardi in October sent a letter to donors emphasizing that North Carolina was in a “rebuild.” All the while, Belichick fended off NFL rumors, maintaining he planned to remain with the Tar Heels.

But the Tar Heels became more competitive throughout the year, as evidenced by a narrow overtime loss to then No. 16 Virginia in October, as well as a loss to Duke—who would go on to play in the ACC title game—that came down to the last couple of minutes of the fourth quarter.

“It’s great, working with a lot of young players,” Belichick said. “I saw a lot of improvement both off the field and in their training, conditioning, strength and explosion. And then on the field in terms of technique, communication and so forth…”

Belichick’s 2026 North Carolina recruiting class paves the way for bounce-back year

But it’s not just the improvement that Belichick saw on the field last year that gives the program hope for ‘26. Belichick and company landed a strong class of 39 recruits in ‘26, good for a ranking of 12th by ESPN and 17th by 247 Sports. Some of the players, whom Belichick in December said would be “the foundation of our program,” could contribute immediately for the Tar Heels in ‘26.

North Carolina will open the ‘26 season in Dublin with a rematch against TCU on Aug. 29.

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