Bill Belichick Addresses Media Ahead of Carolina-UVA matchup

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick addressed the media Tuesday during his weekly press conference at the Kenan Football Center. He discussed the upcoming matchup against Virginia, recapped last week’s loss to Cal and responded to reports regarding general manager Michael Lombardi’s visit to Saudi Arabia.

To hear Belichick’s comments, watch the video below. His full opening statement is also included below.

Here is Belichick's opening statement where he addressed the passing of Ricky Lanier, one of UNC's first black football players, and gave insight of the upcoming game against Virginia

First, want to recognize and give our condolences to Ricky Lanier, his family. You know, I've had a lot of history with with him, but just, you know, follow up on his passing. You know, great, great high school player, student athlete, Merit Scholar, so forth, tremendous high school player. And then his career in North Carolina was also exemplary.

And then, of course, he's gone on to be a great public servant and provide great leadership in the communities and the different organizations he's been involved with. So sorry if this was a little more time than it was like a week ago, but I want to make sure that we recognize him on behalf of the entire North Carolina football community here.

Moving on to Virginia, you know, this is really an impressive string that they're on. You know, they've won a couple of close games in overtime. Close game against Washington State played really well in some critical situations in games, and that's been a difference for him. Coach Tony Elliot's an excellent job with the program, and his certainly some some similarities to the Clemson system, that he's from his time there, that he's brought to Virginia.

Sept 9, 2023; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Head Coach Tony Elliot discussing plays over the headset to his players during the second half against the James Madison Dukes at Scott Stadium. | Hannah Pajewski-Imagn Images

They're kind of their own, you know, they develop that into their own Virginia package. I'm not saying it's Clemson, but there are some elements of the Clemson system, especially offensively, Coach (Des) Kitchings, the offensive coordinator and Coach (John) Rudzinski, defensive coordinator, have both done an excellent job, and those guys are very sound. You know, they don’t turn the ball over and they haven’t had a fumble all year long. Fumble all year. Only had a couple of interceptions. So the ball security has been really good, and they've made the plays on the defensive side of the ball.

And the kicking game, long punt returns, kick off return for a touchdown, blocked punt on stuff like that that provide explosive plays on defense and in the kicking game, as well as offensively.

And of course, (Chandler) Morris is having a good year. You know, Cam Ross is an outstanding player open the return game and offensively. J’mari Taylor, excellent running back. Really has good vision, great quickness. He can really hit from sideline to sideline on any play with his vision and his ability to, you know, jump cut and get into, get into spaces, you know, the receivers, so that'll be a challenge for us.

And, you know, defensively, this is a very experienced group. It's mainly all juniors, seniors, some graduate students. Other than (Ethan) Minter the safety, who's a sophomore, it's a very experienced group, and they play well together.

Virginia Cavaliers RB J'Mari Taylor — Oct 4, 2025; Louisville, Kentucky, USA; Virginia Cavaliers running back J'Mari Taylor (3) runs the ball against Louisville Cardinals defensive lineman Rene Konga (90) during the second quarter at L&N Federal Credit Union Stadium. | Jamie Rhodes-Imagn Images

The ends are very disruptive. The defensive line is good, but the ends in particular are very disruptive and create negative plays, long yardage situations, make plays on long yardage and score touchdowns… So you got to do a good job offensively of keeping the negative plays to a minimum and staying out of long yardage against this team.

Kind of a rivalry game here with the history of UNC and Virginia. It’s a great traditional rivalry. And so we’re excited for the preparation of the game, and look forward to getting on the field today and starting work on them. But it’s a good football team that’s really capitalized on a lot of opportunities, and won a lot of close games.

To follow us on Twitter, CLICK HERE!

Also, follow our Facebook page!