Everything Bill Belichick Said After His 1st Win at UNC

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick addressed the media after the Tar Heels’ 20-3 win at Charlotte on Saturday, his first college victory and the team’s first of the season.

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichic looks at his iPad during the second half against the Charlotte 49ers at Jerry Richardson Stadium. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

CHARLOTTE – North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick met with the press following his team's 20-3 win at Charlotte on Saturday night at Jerry Richardson Stadium. It was the first win of the season for the Tar Heels as well as the first of Belichick's collegiate career.

Below is a full transcript of what Belichick had to say:

Opening Statement

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels defensive back Greg Smith (12) celebrates his interception with teammates during the second half against the Charlotte 49ers at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

A lot better tonight and the rain delay was challenging for both teams, obviously. But things got going, and I thought we did a good job not turning the ball over, which was a big improvement from last week. Played better defense, tackled better and played better in the kicking game. We had some decent field position in the kicking game.

So, I thought overall, it was a solid effort. Certainly, a lot of room for improvement. We can do a better job in all the areas, coaching fundamentals, playing, missed some opportunities, but I thought these players deserved it. They played well tonight, and again, came back after a short week, went on the road and came in here and got the win. So good win and we'll move on.

Q: How special is it to get your first college win?

Sep 1, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick on the field before the game at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

It's great, but it's really about the team. The players went out there and made the plays tonight. The staff did do a great job. It's disappointing Monday night against TCU, but these guys bounced back, all of them, players, coaches, our staff, support, people, everybody. And just got back to work, we were determined to have a better outcome. And so, I was really proud of what they did. They're the ones that really deserve the credit tonight.

Q: The drive right before the half to score a touchdown felt like a big moment in this game. What was working on that drive?

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels place kicker Rece Verhoff (90) adds a field goal during the second half against the Charlotte 49ers at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

That was a big drive for us. I thought that Gio (Lopez) and Freddie (Kitchens), offensive coordinator, they really managed the clock well. We made a couple first downs, and then we got into position to score, and ultimately got the touchdown with only a few seconds left on the clock. So that was a big swing for us, that we had a similar situation last week against TCU, and we kind of messed that up. And then they ended up kicking a field goal at the end of the half. So that was a big drive for us there to close out the half. Very well executed. Got a big run there from Bullet (Davion Gause) on the touchdown run.

Offensive line blocked well and Gio made a couple of key plays on that drive. Just great execution any time you go 80 yards; I don't know how many plays it was – 10 plays. That's good. You don't get it all on one play, you've got to get a bunch of them and we had a few on that drive so it was great. One of the real highlights of the night, honestly, was putting together that drive at that time in the game.

Q: Demon June got a lot of work tonight? What was working for him and did he help himself tonight?

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels running back Demon June (35) tries to avoid a tackle by Charlotte 49ers defensive back Gavin Shipman (4) during the second half at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

We got quite a few touches to most all of our backs. It's nice when there's a hole to see that backs run through it. You've got to give the line a lot of credit for opening up some of those creases for them. Ju Ju ran well, he's got some explosion. It was good to see him get a few carries and be productive with them. But I thought all our backs ran hard.

Charlotte blitzed us quite a bit so there was a lot of pass protection situations. Their linebackers are good blitzers and I thought that was a challenge for us. But I thought those guys did a good job in pass protection, too, which is as much as everybody wants to talk about the running game, pass protection is key for the backs and certainly nobody appreciates, and the quarterback.

Q: It looked like Gio was working more on the move tonight. Was that more of what you guys envisioned for him, as compared to what you saw from him against TCU?

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Gio Lopez (7) looks for a receiver against the Charlotte 49ers during the second half at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

We got him outside on a couple plays. Gio, I thought, did a really good job of improvising and extending some plays where there wasn't much there, and he was able to extend the play one way or another; either to throw it or to pull the ball down and run and pick up positive yardage. I think that's one of his real strengths as a quarterback is just kind of his gamesmanship and making plays in those situations.

He really helped us out here a couple times where he either got the first down or got us pretty close to the first down on second down on plays that he extended. And the offensive line did a good job too, kind of moving the pocket out so there was some space for him to move. So, some of it was designed. A lot of it was just Gio being Gio, which is good.

Q: You were able to spread the ball around more than last week. What allowed him to spread it around more in this game compared to last week?

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Gio Lopez (7) throws under pressure from Charlotte 49ers defensive lineman Jorel Liverpool (10) during the first quarter at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

We had a lot fewer negative plays. I don't know what the final number was, but we were able to move the ball forward instead of last week we had penalties and negative runs and a sack here and there, and obviously turned the ball over a couple of times for touchdowns. So, just positive plays and staying out of long yardage makes everything easier for everybody.

It allows you to be balance to where you can run or throw instead of the second-and-12s and 13s; they're just hard to convert. It's hard to make 10 yards on three downs let alone one make it on one. Just having positive plays gave everybody more of an opportunity to balance the offense out. More running, more passes; quick passes. We took some shots down the field. (Gio) hit one to Chris (Culliver) there on the first drive. It was a great throw and a great job by Chris of running through the ball. But just having more plays and having more balance and staying out of long yardage was big for us.

Q: Reports came out this week of New England Patriots scouts being banned from your practices and games. Do you have any comment on that to provide some explanation?

Jan 11, 2024; Foxborough, MA, USA; New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft (left) and Patriots former head coach Bill Belichick (right) and hold a press conference at Gillette Stadium to announce Belichick's exit from the team. Mandatory Credit: Eric Canha-Imagn Images | Eric Canha-Imagn Images

Yeah, it's clear that I'm not welcome there, around their facility, and so they're not welcome at ours. Pretty simple.

Q: What were some of the points of emphasis the last few on defense that you saw play out tonight:

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels running back Caleb Hood (4) tries to avoid Charlotte 49ers defensive back Gavin Shipman (4) during the second half at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Fundamentals. It always comes back to fundamentals. Defeating blocks, holding our gaps and tackling.

Q: It looked like you've got a pass defense package in with Xavier Lewis in the middle up front, can you discuss what you guys did in those situations and if you're find who you want there?

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; Charlotte 49ers quarterback Conner Harrell (15) is tackled by North Carolina Tar Heels linebacker Andrew Simpson (2) for a sack during the second half at Jerry Richardson Stadium. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

I think we had more positive plays on first down, kind of the reverse of what I said about our offense. We had more positive plays on first down, which create second-and-longs and third-and-longs, and that's a great situation to rush the passer. And we played from ahead. So most of the fourth quarter, we're playing from ahead. They're down by two scores, three scores, around 10 minutes to go in the game whenever we kicked that last field goal.

Those are the situations to rush the passer in, and we saw it happen last week when we were on the other side when they were just teeing off on us with a big lead. Score has a lot to do with it, and if you can create long yardage situations, that's just better for everybody to rush.

Q: Gio looks like an aggressive runner, and is that something you like from him or would you rather see him pull up more and not always take those hits?

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels quarterback Gio Lopez (7) throws under pressure from Charlotte 49ers defensive lineman Jorel Liverpool (10) during the first quarter at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

He's a really competitive guy and I think when a yard's an important yard then he's going to try to get it. The difference between second-and-10, second-and-9, I don't know what that is, but the difference between getting that first down and not getting it on third-and-five when you scramble is a big play for the quarterback. And he knows that to stay on the field.

"I think he's a pretty good decision maker. He knows when to fight for a yard and when and when to give up on the fight and the journey's over. That's a good thing, but we've got to make sure that he's not a halfback, he's a quarterback. I'm good with him running the ball but we're not going to run him 25 times a game. That's not his role.

Q: Two games in, what differences have you noticed in coaching in the NFL versus in college?

Coaching is coaching. You get into the game and you try to do the best you can to help your team win, and what the other team does schematically or strategically or from a personnel standpoint. You're still looking to create advantages for your team, of those match ups and those schematics, so that part is the same. Each team has its own style of play. It's a lot different coaching against Lamar Jackson and the Ravens than it was coaching against Patrick Mahomes and the Chiefs. They're different, but it's still the same competition. That's coaching. Coaching is coaching, especially during the game, you're just trying to do the best you can to help your team."

Q: Did you sense your team had a desire to prove that Monday's performance against TCU wasn't indicative of who they are?

Sep 6, 2025; Charlotte, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels running back Jo Jo Troupe (26) is tackled by Charlotte 49ers defensive back Collin Gill (3) during the second half at Jerry Richardson Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Yeah, absolutely. That was kind of clear in a locker room and as we got out of the practice field (this) week that, not that there wasn't going into TCU, but there was just kind of a higher level of determination and commitment and recognition of the areas we were deficient in against TCU last week. So, it's good to see some of those improve.

Q: Do you Chris gets you off to that great start with that touchdown pass and in the second quarter he went down with an injury. Do have any update on Chris Culliver?

UNC wide receiver Chris Culliver returns a kick (Sept. 1, 2025) | Jackson McCurdy, Tar Heels On SI

No. He wasn't able to come back. We'll see what it is. Hopefully it isn't anything too serious, but he just wasn't able to finish tonight. But we'll see. He's a tough kid, so we'll see how it goes.

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