Belichick’s 5 Key Quotes Before UNC-Syracuse Game

Here is the full press conference:

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick met with the media for his weekly press conference at the Kenan Football Center on Tuesday. Here are five things that he said.

On Syracuse...

"Watching Syracuse, I think Fran (Brown) has done a great job with that program. Spent a lot of time watching them last year. And honestly, what they did offensively was phenomenal. They set a couple dozen school records and led the nation in passing. Had some productive performances almost every week."

"I saw a lot of those in the things I was doing last year, just watching them and keeping kind of track of how efficient they were offensively, particularly passing the ball."

"Then coming into this year, you know the new quarterback, and kind of second year in the program, it’s unfortunate that, you know the quarterback (Steve Angeli) got hurt, but Rickie Collins has stepped in there and has got a little different skill set, but nevertheless very dangerous with the ball in his hand."

Great athlete, very good runner, and you can just see him getting better every week. He’s only played a couple weeks, but every time he steps on the field, and I thought he was better last week as well, it’s going to continue to get better."

"So this is a really good football team that obviously beat Clemson, and has played some very good football in spurts against SMU Georgia Tech, the better teams in the conference.

Your team has been close to winning these past two weeks. How do you break through this point and get the end result you want?

UNC — Oct 25, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Cavaliers players celebrate after stopping North Carolina Tar Heels short of the goal line on a two point try to win in overtime at Kenan Stadium. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

"Well, you start all over every week. Couple weeks ago after Cal game, you look at that game and you start all over again on Virginia. And now we start all over again on Syracuse, and we’ll do the same thing next week. So each week’s its own week. It’s all a new preparation cycle."

"Everything’s different. Players are different, schemes different, environment and the atmosphere is different. So it’s every week’s own entity. So that’s where we are, we do the same thing every week. That’s all we’ve been doing every week this year. And I’ll see how that can change, because each week is so different."

How much can you quantify that group’s marketed improvement since the TCU game?

Oct 25, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels defensive lineman Isaiah Johnson (94) celebrates with defensive tackle D'Antre Robinson (6) after making a sack in the second quarter at Kenan Stadium. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

"Go back even a little further than that, go back to the spring when you know we only had, three players that had played the previous year. And then players that we added in the spring, and then some players that we’ve added for the fall. It’s a completely new group. … They’ve done a great job coming together, working together, playing fundamentally well together and improving."

"Our strengths improved, our speed, explosion has improved, our block recognition, transition, pass rush, all that. Those guys work hard, and you can see their hard work on the practice field pay off in games. So really proud of that group and the way that they’ve just come together as almost a completely new team or new unit."

Players told us that when you told them you were here to stay and weren’t going anywhere, that was the start of everybody coming together. Do you see a different team from before you told them that, almost something in their eye like, ‘okay, now we have the confirmation, now we’re going go out there and really continue doing what we’ve been doing?'

UNC — Oct 25, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick shakes Virginia Cavaliers head coach Tony Elliott hand after the Tar Heels lose to Virginia in overtime at Kenan Stadium. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Well, it’s never been anything but that. And wherever that story came from, obviously it’s already been taken down and everything else. And it’s just total, as Trump would say, fake news. I mean, it’s just a novel."

"There’s plenty of that out there too, by the way, but I’m not going to deal with that. Look, our consistency has been here since the day that Michael Lombardi and I came in and started hiring people and came into the organization in December.

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 got here the same day, and we’ve been doing it every day, and that’s the way it’s going to be. So I’m sure there’s a lot of other people out there that want to get clicks and views and posts on my face or whatever, but like, it’s just a bunch of garbage.

What led to Madrid Tucker playing such a prominent role last game?

UNC — Oct 25, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Virginia Cavaliers safety Antonio Clary (0) intercepts a pass intended for North Carolina Tar Heels wide receiver Madrid Tucker (86) as cornerback Emmanuel Karnley (19) helps defend near the end of the fourth quarter at Kenan Stadium. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

"Like a lot of players who are new to the program, and either got here, particularly in that June or July area, they were a little bit behind other players in terms of knowledge, experience, playing experience at this level and so forth."

"But as we practiced more and competed more, the gap has narrowed, and some of those players have shown that they are ready to compete on this level and have earned more playing time."

Sep 30, 2017; Atlanta, GA, USA; 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. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

At the receiver position, Madrid Tucker has done that, Shanard Clower’s done it. Demon June did as a running back. So we have guys who are playing more than they did earlier in the year, because they have shown that, in our opinion, they’ve shown in competitive situations that they’re ready for those opportunities.