Steve Belichick Discusses Fixing UNC’s Defense and Blocking Out Noise

North Carolina defensive coordinator Steve Belichick spoke to the media Wednesday, offering his assessment of the defense so far, addressing outside noise surrounding the program and discussing areas that need improvement.

The video of the presser along with a partial transcript is down below:

Assessment of Defense Through Five Games …

UNC — North Carolina linebacker Mikai Gbayor returned a 66-yard fumble for a touchdown in the Tar Heels' 41-6 victory over Richmond (Sept. 4, 2025). | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

Had some ups and downs. It was good having everybody week this week. Definitely have some things to clean up. Always need to, to work and improve, but I had a couple of good weeks of practice, so looking forward to get back out, getting back out on the field.

What were some of those areas of focus during the two weeks?

North Carolina defensive lineman Isaiah Johnson making a tackle vs. Clemson; Oct. 4, 2025 | UNC Athletic Communications

Always fundamentals, qork on that every single week, communication, fundamentals, Just keeping working, keep working through the guys on the roster, and yeah, just taking it one day at a time.

Getting Out to a Faster Start on Defense …

UNC — North Carolina running out on the field through smoke before its game against Clemson on Oct. 4, 2025. | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

Just gotta be ready to go. Gotta be ready to go. Gotta be ready to go out there and play fast, not be thinking too much about the game and the calls and stuff like that, and just go out there and play free and so trying to do that every single week. So we've got some good starts when we've got some slow start. So it's gotta be more consistent

On Better Communication in the Secondary to Prevent Blown Coverages …

TCU wide receiver Jordan Dwyer (7) went past UNC defensive back Marcus Allen (29) to catch TCU's first touchdown of the game. | Jackson McCurdy, Tar Heels On SI

just making sure everybody spends spends enough time together, so that, so that everybody's on the same page and don't want to put too much on the plate, still building that those relationships out on the field where you need a little bit more verbal communication. Sometimes you can just have visual communication. Look at somebody and know, you know, know what's going on out there, but working through those things, and players been doing really good job with it. So to go improve.

On the Frustration Within The Locker Room

UNC — Oct 4, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; Clemson Tigers wide receiver Antonio Williams with the ball as North Carolina Tar Heels linebacker Khmori House (7) defends in the second quarter at Kenan Stadium. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

I think we have had a really good week of practice. I think anybody who's a competitor is frustrated when they lose. So, you know, starts with me on defense, I can do a better job, and triples down through everybody. So we all gotta do better. But I appreciate the frustration to a point, just because that means they care, putting in a lot of work to go out there and compete at a high level, and it hasn't always shown so we'll try and get out there and do better. But should be frustrated when you lose.

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