Bill Belichick and Manny Diaz Preview Key Duke

North Carolina (4-6, 2-4 ACC) will host Duke (5-5, 4-2 ACC) at Kenan Stadium on Saturday at 3:30 p.m. The game will be broadcast on the ACC Network.

North Carolina is coming off a 28-12 loss at Wake Forest on Saturday, snapping a two-game winning streak. Duke, meanwhile, fell at home to Virginia, 34-17, a defeat that all but eliminated the Blue Devils from ACC Championship Game contention.

North Carolina leads the all-time series 65-41-4, but Duke won last year's matchup, 21-20, after scoring two touchdowns in the fourth quarter to secure the win. The victory gave the Blue Devils possession of the Victory Bell for the first time since 2019.

Both Bill Belichick and Duke head coach Manny Diaz had their weekly press conferences earlier this week, and this is what they had to say ahead of Saturday's game.

Bill Belichick

On the Rivalry…

Oct 2, 2021; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels players celebrate after winning the game and the Victory Bell at Kenan Memorial Stadium. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

For Duke, I mean, obviously, a big rivalry game here for us. This game means a lot to people in Carolina, people at UNC, people at Duke, obviously a big division here, and that’s what makes these games exciting and fun and super competitive. So everybody knows each other pretty well, and looking forward to being a participant in this event.

On Manny Diaz…

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. | David Butler II-Imagn Images

I have a ton of respect for Manny (Diaz)… I’ve learned a lot from spending time with him, and talking football with him on multiple occasions when he was at Miami as a defensive coordinator, when he coached at Penn State, and even a little bit at Duke last year, one of my former coaches is there, worked on his defensive staff for him at Penn State. So I have a lot of familiarity with how he coaches, the job he does, and he’s an excellent coach.

On Darian Mensah…

(Darian) Mensah, I saw him play in person last year. Was super impressed with him. This guy’s a really, really good quarterback. I think he’s the best quarterback we faced, and we faced some good quarterbacks, but this guy really reminds me of an NFL quarterback.

He’s got great presence in the pocket. He does an excellent job of seeing coverage, seeing receivers. He’s very accurate down the field, good throwing mechanics. He can certainly run and get out of trouble and avoid the rush and extend plays. But he’s not out there running around trying to be a running back

When you’ve talked to your dad about coaching here, did he ever mention what it was like coaching and competing in this game?

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

Yeah, sure. 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. 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 state games, like Wake Forest, NC State, those are big rivalry games too, but Duke, that’s it.”

Duke Head Coach Manny Diaz

On the rivalry:

Sep 28, 2024; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils celebrates a win against North Carolina Tar Heels and fans storm the field after the second half of the game at Wallace Wade Stadium. | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

It's an important game for our university, for their university, in any sport we play. It's a really big deal. To excel in anything, you have to beat the bully in your neighborhood. It's a game our guys look forward to all year. It was a highlight for sure of our season last year.

With the bell, for example, we don't have it. No one has it. This team hasn't won it. No one's won it. We're not retaining anything. We have to go get it, the same way they have to go get it. There are people on our team who have beaten them. There are people on their team who have beaten us. But these two teams have never played each other.

I think that's always what makes rivalry games so great. They tend to be unpredictable because we'll get their best shot and I believe that they'll get ours as well.

On a trophy game:

Sep 28, 2024; Durham, North Carolina, USA; Duke Blue Devils defensive end Wesley Williams (97) rings the North Carolina Tar Heels bell after a win at the end of the second half of the game at Wallace Wade Stadium. | Jaylynn Nash-Imagn Images

There are only so many chances you have to win a trophy. This is our trophy game. Therefore, it's a big deal. It's way more fun when you have it than when you don't have it. There's a constant reminder every day when you walk by and can see it's there. Or there's a constant reminder every day when you walk by it and it's not there.

I've been here for 20 months and for eight or nine of them there was no bell. Since then, there has been a bell. It's a thing that gives you a reminder of an accomplishment. Winning at home and winning in-state are big deals for us.

Oct 28, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a North Carolina Tar Heels helmet on the field before a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

We're 1-0 in our state right now. This is the next step. We have two left. That's a big deal in terms of how we build our bridge – winning this game, winning the state and then moving on from there.

“I think one last part is the chance to go undefeated on the road in the ACC. That's a really rare thing to do. That does show our guys can focus, lock in and thrive in difficult environments.”

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