Why Bill Belichick’s First Game at UNC Feels Familiar for TCU

TCU head coach Sonny Dykes has been pretty successful in season-opening games as he has only lost two season openers since 2014.

Dykes has built a reputation as a steady coach, guiding four different programs — Louisiana Tech, California, SMU and TCU — to postseason appearances. In 2022, he led the Horned Frogs to the national championship game. He owns a 27-13 record at TCU and an 87-65 record overall.

However, this opener comes against a North Carolina team featuring 70 new players, making film study more difficult, and led by Bill Belichick, a Super Bowl champion and one of football’s greatest coaches and defensive minds. This isn’t the first time Dykes and the Horned Frogs have dealt with this dilemma.

A couple of years ago, TCU was coming off of an appearance in the national championship game and played against Pac-12 perennial bottom-feeder Colorado to open the season at Amon G. Carter Stadium in Fort Worth, Texas. However, the Buffaloes were a brand new team coached by Deion Sanders with his son, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. The Buffaloes upset the Horned Frogs 45-42.

Now, it could be déjà vu for Dykes and TCU as they head into a similar situation. This time, however, the Horned Frogs will be on the road in the nation’s only game of the day, a Labor Day matchup.

Dykes' Reaction to Belichick Coaching in the College Ranks

UNC head coach Bill Belichick | Grant Chachere, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

Dykes, like many around the country, was shocked that he took a college coaching gig, let alone one at North Carolina.

“Yeah, I was surprised like everyone else,” Dykes said. You could’ve gotten pretty good odds a year ago that Belichick would be the coach at North Carolina. Obviously, he’s one of the greatest coaches of all time, with his record and Super Bowl success in New England.”

Dykes isn’t the only member of the coaching community who was shocked by the news of Belichick coming to Chapel Hill to coach the Tar Heels. Even his son, current defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, found out the same way everybody else did.

“No, I didn’t see it coming,” the younger Belichick said. “I don’t know how it all went down, but I was just as surprised as everybody else to hear him going to North Carolina. It was definitely a little interesting when that happened. But he just loves to coach football, loves to develop players, loves to be around the game. It’s been that way my whole life, and it hasn’t changed yet.”

Dykes' Admiration for Belichick

Former All-Pro wide receiver Wes Welker played for current TCU head coach Sonny Dykes when he was the wide receivers coach at Texas Tech and Bill Belichick when he played professionally for the New England Patriots. | Bill Ingram / USA TODAY NETWORK

While some think that the Belichick experiment won’t work out, Dykes thinks that Belichick can succeed at the collegiate level despite his lack of experience doing so because of the type of culture he instills in his players.

“I think what will make him successful at UNC is the same thing that made him successful in the NFL—he values productive, hardworking, tough-minded players,” Dykes said. “I expect his team to be well-prepared and play with a chip on their shoulder. The challenge for us is that we don’t know exactly what their schemes will look like with new players and a new staff, which makes preparation tricky."

There are a lot of similarities between the two coaches.

For starters, both are the sons of coaches as Belichick's father was an assistant coach at the collegiate level, coaching at places such as North Carolina as well as his most notable stint at Navy for 33 years from 1956 to 1989.

Dykes' father, Spike, was a legendary coach at Texas Tech and was inducted into the Texas Sports Hall of Fame.

When it comes to the types of players they want in their program. Belichick has even coached several players who once played under Dykes, including Wes Welker and Danny Amendola, who were receivers when Dykes was the wide receivers coach at Texas Tech, and Rob Gronkowski, who played for Dykes during his time as offensive coordinator at Arizona from 2007 to 2009.

"I have a tremendous amount of respect for him and what he’s done," Dykes said. "He’s arguably one of the greatest football coaches that’s ever lived, and you only have to look at his record in the NFL and the number of Super Bowls he’s won to see that. A lot of my former players have played for him, including guys who coached Wes Welker, Danny Amendola and Rob Gronkowski, who went on to have great success in New England. I think there are a lot of similarities in the type of player that we like."