Bill Belichick On the Current State of the Offensive Line

North Carolina's offensive line has learned the ways of becoming versatile under Bill Belichick.

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick speaking to the press before the Tar Heels' first practice of fall camp on Saturday, Aug. 2, 2025 | Jackson McCurdy, Nirth Carolina Tar Heels on SI

The North Carolina Tar Heels go into Kenan Memorial Stadium on Saturday, Oct. 4, at noon to battle it out with the Clemson Tigers. UNC is coming off its bye week, which will truly show whether or not it has improved, or stayed the exact same since its last outing against the UCF Knights, losing 34-9, a blowout, and was never close.

Other than the quarterback situation between Gio Lopez and Max Johnson, the Tar Heels' offensive line has run into issues, too. The injury of veteran Austin Blaske during Fall Camp has changed the course for the rest of the offensive linemen, but Belichick shared with the media his vantage point on everything unfolding.

Bill Belichick speaking to the press before UNC's first practice of fall camp on Aug. 2, 2025. | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

• “Unfortunately, we've had a lot of moving parts on the offensive line. We took a player who had never played center and essentially moved him into center. Chad [Lindberg]'s been a center since the middle of training camp. That was a new position for him.” 

• "Work[ing] through the tackle situation with several players: [Eidan] Buchanan, to [William] Boone, to [Austin] Blaske and so forth. We have settled in on more consistency with who is getting the reps, and it's more consistent to those players.”

Sep 13, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Richmond Spiders head coach Russ Huesman with North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick after the game at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

• "It's not just the individual player, it's who you play next to and how you work in conjunction with that player or even the adjacent player after him. The center, guard and tackle a lot of times are working together in three man combinations of some sort. It's not just the guard and the tackle or the center and guard, it can be more than that.”

• “Again, we're getting better at all that. But unfortunately, the players we had in the spring on the offensive line aren't the same players we had in the fall. And then in training camp, we had a little bit of juggling there too. But I mean, it is what it is. And I think Chad's done a good job of taking advantage of the opportunity to play center.”

North Carolina offensive lineman Austin Blaske | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

• “And he's actually played pretty competitively in there for somebody who hasn't done it. That's been an opportunity for him and he took advantage of it.”

The Offensive Line Will Make a Huge Difference Against Clemson

North Carolina's offensive front will be key to stopping Clemson's defensive front, one filled with talent. Regardless of who is throwing the football for Belichick, either Lopez or Johnson will have a hard time hitting their intended targets if they do not have any time to evaluate the field inside the pocket.

Sep 1, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick with TCU Horned Frogs head coach Sonny Dykes after the game at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

The Tar Heels are desperate for a win, and rightfully so, given their two blowout losses to Big 12 schools. Maybe ACC play can start something new in the right direction.

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