Duke Set for First-Ever Showdown With Bill Belichick

It is rivalry week for the Duke Blue Devils. They are facing their top and biggest rival, the North Carolina Tar Heels. This is one game that the Blue Devils never want to lose. If there is one game you have to win, it is the game when you are facing North Carolina.

That is what the pressure is on this week for both teams this weekend. The Blue Devils are looking to become bowl-eligible with a win. For the Tar Heels, they are looking to get one more step closer to doing that.

Oct 21, 2017; Durham, NC, USA; The Duke Blue Devils and ACC logo on the pylon during the game against the Pittsburgh Panthers at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images | Jeremy Brevard-Imagn Images

For Duke head coach Manny Diaz and this Duke team, they want to end it all for the Tar Heels this season. Duke is going to come into this game with a lot of fire after losing their last two games.

That has been something that the Blue Devils are not used to. And they certainly do not want to go into their last game of the regular season with a three-game losing streak.

Nov 8, 2025; East Hartford, Connecticut, USA; Duke Blue Devils head coach Manny Diaz watches from the sideline as they take on the UConn Huskies at Pratt & Whitney Stadium at Rentschler Field. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images | David Butler II-Imagn Images

New Member Getting First Taste of UNC-Duke Rivalry

One person who is going to get his first taste of this rivalry is UNC head coach Bill Belichick. That is something many would have been shocked to say would be part of this rivalry at some point as a head coach. He is here now and wants to win this one game.

“One story I always heard was, Billy's first words were, ‘Beat Duke,' ” Belichick said with a smile during his first press conference.

Oct 31, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick looks to the clock in the fourth quarter game against the Syracuse Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome. Mandatory Credit: Mark Konezny-Imagn Images | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

That opportunity has finally arrived for Belichick’s Tar Heels (4-6, 2-4 ACC), who host the Blue Devils (5-5, 4-2) on Saturday, Nov. 22 (3:30 p.m., ACC Network), at Kenan Stadium in the latest edition of the Victory Bell rivalry.

“Yeah, it was the game. It was the game. I mean, I don’t think it’s Army-Navy, but it’s that kind of, type of game. And my whole life, I’ve been involved and grew up in an Army-Navy rivalry,” Belichick said Nov. 19 during his weekly press conference inside the Kenan Football Center.

UNC football coach Bill Belichick during a press conference on Tuesday, Nov. 11, 2025 inside the Kenan Football Center. | Rodd Baxley/The Fayetteville Observer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“I was a little too young for the Duke-UNC rivalry before we left Chapel Hill and went to Annapolis. But from the time I was the littlest kid in Annapolis, it was Army-Navy, it was those 10 games, or however many games that were, and then it was Army. And so here you got a couple other in-state games, like Wake Forest, N.C. State. Those are big rivalry games too, but Duke, that’s it.”

Sep 18, 2021; Durham, North Carolina, USA; A Duke Blue Devils helmet sits on an equipment box during the fourth quarter at Wallace Wade Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Howard-Imagn Images | William Howard-Imagn Images

“It’s ticked up a little bit, but it’s been pretty consistent all year. We’ve shown improvement through a lot of the season, and I think that’s reflective of stringing days together.”

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