Why UNC's Defense is the Tar Heels' Only Hope

On this episode of the Tar Heels Insider Podcast, beat writer Grant Chachere explains why North Carolina's defense will have to make up for the offense's mistakes if it wants to make it to a bowl game and updates on Tar Heel basketball.

Here is a partial transcript of Bill Belichick's postgame presser after the UCF loss on Sept. 20.

Sep 20, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick walks into the field before the game against the UCF Knights at the Bounce House Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Mike Watters-Imagn Images | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

Opening Statement

Yeah, first of all, this was a good job by UCF today. Scott and the team played well. Certainly, better than we did. We had too many problems out there to be consistent: turned the ball over, penalties at the end of the half, missed tackles. A lot of things we need to do a better job of; they were just better than us today."

Q: Did you feel like Max gave a better sense of a vertical offense when he entered the game?

We'll take a look at the film and take a closer look. There's a lot of guys out there and I think I could evaluate all of them.

Q: Before the injury, what are some of the things that have been coming along with Gio's game? Are there any specifics

We scored points the last two weeks and had trouble doing it today.

Football is a team sport, there's 11 guys out there, we're not talking about one guy. It's 11 guys that have to operate efficiently and at times we've done that and at times we haven't. Today wasn't one of our better ones."

Q: Did UCF do anything that caught y'all off guard?

No, they did a good job. They do a good job, they have multiple options on their plays, which they executed well.

This is what they do. They're balanced, they have good backs, quarterbacks are involved, get the ball to the receivers on the RPOs. They're a well-balanced offense, well coached, they do a good job.

Q: What did you see go wrong on the defensive side of the ball, especially with the late first half TD drive?

3 penalties. 3 penalties and missed the coverage.

Q: What does your team have to do to win these nationally televised games?

Yeah, we'll take each game one week at a time and go out there, compete, and do our best each week. That's what we're going to do.

Q: As a coach, what do you have to do in the bye week to continue uplifting the players?

Like I said, we'll take a look at not just this game but the first four weeks, address the errors we feel like need to be improved the most and work on those. We'll do what we feel like we need to do to improve the team.

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