5 Takeaways from Belichick’s Presser Before Virginia Matchup

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick addressed the media Tuesday during his weekly news conference at the Kenan Football Center.

Here are five things he said that stood out.

On Virginia

Sept 9, 2023; Charlottesville, Virginia, USA; Head Coach Tony Elliot discussing plays over the headset to his players during the second half against the James Madison Dukes at Scott Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Hannah Pajewski-Imagn Images | Hannah Pajewski-Imagn Images

Moving on to Virginia, this has really been an impressive string that they’re on. They’ve won a couple of close games in overtime, a close game against Washington State. Played really well in some critical situations in games, and that’s been the difference for them. Coach (Tony) Elliot’s done an excellent job with the program.

“(Chandler) Morris is having a good year. You know, Cam Ross is an outstanding player open the return game and offensively. J’mari Taylor, excellent running back. Really has good vision, great quickness. He can really hit from sideline to sideline on any play with his vision and his ability to, you know, jump cut and get into, get into spaces, you know, the receivers, so that'll be a challenge for us.

And, you know, defensively, this is a very experienced group. It's mainly all juniors, seniors, some graduate students. Other than (Ethan) Minter the safety, who's a sophomore, it's a very experienced group, and they play well together.

The ends are very disruptive. The defensive line is good, but the ends in particular are very disruptive and create negative plays, long yardage situations, make plays on long yardage and score touchdowns… So you got to do a good job offensively of keeping the negative plays to a minimum and staying out of long yardage against this team.

Though there are no moral victories, did the mood around the team after Friday’s result feel different than it did after Clemson or UCF?

UNC — Oct 17, 2025; Berkeley, California, USA; California Golden Bears head coach Justin Wilcox and North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick shake hands after the game at California Memorial Stadium. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

No, not really. Disappointed in the results, but these guys, we all bounce back quickly once it’s over. Whether it was the wins against Charlotte and Richmond or a loss, it’s after 24 hours, that game’s in the books, and we’re done with the corrections and so forth, and we’re on to our next challenge. So that’s kind of way it’s been every week, and I think that’s what it’ll be going forward.

It’s always a good move when you win right after the game, but as soon as you get on to that next team, you’re starting all over again. So that’s where we are.

There was a recent article that mentioned Chandler Morris wanted to come to UNC, but your staff passed on him. Given the success he’s had at Virginia this season, can you reflect on the learning curve associated with evaluating quarterbacks in the transfer portal?

Dec 12, 2024; Chapel Hill, NC, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels general manager Michael Lombardi during the Bill Belichick hiring announcement at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

Yeah, I don’t really know what the source on that was. We didn’t have any contact with Chandler Morris. We spoke to his agent. I don’t really know what the source of that was. His agent didn’t know anything about it. We didn’t know anything about it. Just making up stories. I don’t know where that came from.

Gio Lopez said after the game that he feels the healthiest since the car accident he was in during the preseason. Have you noticed any differences with him?

I think that’s kind of an internal thing with him. I would say from the outside, he was a pretty tough kid. Whatever aches he had, he wasn’t showing them. He’s a tough kid, played through them and didn’t complain about them. So it’s always good to hear, players saying that they feel good and they’re healthy.

But I’d say he competed well for all the time he’s been here and been out on the field, and the fact that he personally feels better is a good thing. But I’d say he played through whatever he had pretty well.

Do you think you’ve done enough education and educating everybody about all the rules and NCAA regulations in college football?

UNC — Oct 17, 2025; Berkeley, California, USA; (Editors Notes: Caption Correction) North Carolina Tar Heels tight end Connor Cox (81) gets tackled by California Golden Bears linebacker Cade Uluave (0) in the second quarter at California Memorial Stadium. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

Yes, we’ve all gone through the compliance courses, whether it be in recruiting practices, time management, the hourly requirements and so forth. I would say, if anything, I feel like maybe we spent too much time on it, to be honest with you. We’ve gone over and over and over to make sure that we have it right, and every time we check it, ‘hey, just want to triple check and make sure we’re okay on this.’ Yes, yes.

Right now we’re still making sure that we’re trying to do every single thing right. I think that’s the right thing to do. Did something come up or will something come up? I mean, I’m sure it probably will; it does in every program. But we’re certainly not trying to, in any way, not take advantage of our compliance people and the people who have more experience with some of the subtler rules or restrictions.

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