UNC Honors Veterans With Military Tribute at Kenan Center

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — To honor Veterans Day, North Carolina unveiled the “Honoring Our Military” wall Tuesday at Kenan Football Center, recognizing football program alumni who served in the armed forces. The display highlights the commitment and sacrifice of former Tar Heels by listing their names, military branches, years of service, football positions, and seasons played at UNC.

Sixty-one names were displayed on the wall during Tuesday’s dedication ceremony at UNC’s football operations center, located adjacent to Kenan Stadium. The program stated it will continue to add names as more are discovered.

“I’m very proud to be part of the recognition that we’re going to put up here in the in the football building as we commemorate Veterans Day here,” Belichick said Tuesday. “(Veterans Day) is something that we’ve spent time working with our players on."

"We’ve had people from the military, and we have a couple on our staff, talk about what Veterans Day means. What the right thing to do is when you see or interact with a veteran, really at any time, but especially on this day of recognition. And obviously how important they are to our freedom. They give us the opportunity to do what we do, which is coach, football, play football and go to school.”

On Tuesday, Belichick was joined by Staff Sgt. Veneta Wheeler of the UNC Army ROTC as they unveiled the military tribute wall at Kenan Football Center. UNC Chancellor Lee Roberts, Lt. Col. Lisa Klekowski of the Army ROTC and Rob Palermo, director of the Carolina Veterans Resource Center, also attended the ceremony.

Belichick and His Staff Have Ties to Military

UNC — Oct 31, 2025; Syracuse, New York, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick looks to the clock in the fourth quarter game against the Syracuse Orange at the JMA Wireless Dome. | Mark Konezny-Imagn Images

Two members of Bill Belichick’s current coaching staff, special teams coordinator Mike Priefer and assistant director of sports performance Trent Baker, have been recognized on the wall. Baker served with US Navy SEAL Teams from 2001-2023.

He graduated from the U.S. Naval Academy in 1989, where he played quarterback and receiver for the Midshipmen. He served as a naval officer until 1994, piloting helicopters abroad, including tours in Somalia, Bosnia and the Persian Gulf. Then, Preifer returned to the Naval Academy to work as a flight instructor, while breaking into coaching football as a graduate assistant for the Midshipmen.

Before joining North Carolina, Priefer spent two decades as a special teams coach in the NFL, with stints at the Jacksonville Jaguars, New York Giants, Kansas City Chiefs, Denver Broncos, Minnesota Vikings and Cleveland Browns.

Belichick noted that his father, who was an assistant football coach at North Carolina from 1953 to 1955, joined the Navy after the attack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941.

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