How Perception of Belichick’s First UNC Year Has Shifted

On this episode of the Tar Heels Insider Podcast, beat writer Grant Chachere talks about the differences in how people viewed Carolina going into the 2025 football season compared to now.

On Kobe Paysour…

UNC — Sep 21, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels wide receiver Kobe Paysour (8) with the ball in the first quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

I think Kobe has always been a great player at a great fall camp, even great in practice. I think tonight was just one of those situations where he just the ball was going was going to him. He was getting open. I was finding them. But I think there was no development back into I think he's always been Kobe, from what I've seen, but he's great player. I'm proud of him, and he showed up really big for us tonight.

On whether Paysour’s emergence will open up more possibilities for UNC’s offense…

UNC — Sep 20, 2025; Orlando, Florida, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels wide receiver Kobe Paysour (8) runs the ball during the second half against the UCF Knights at the Bounce House Stadium. | Mike Watters-Imagn Images

I think it's going to open up the offense even more. You know, just, not just Kobe and ship, I think, you know, Chris (Culliver) and Shanard (Clower) is coming along, and Nathan Lee cock, of course, he had, you know about, you know, tough play, right? But he's, he's a great player. There's a reason he was showing up tonight. He was on the field a lot more than he was previous games

On his initial reaction to Nathan Leacock’s fumble and aftermath…

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. Mandatory Credit: Eakin Howard-Imagn Images | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

You know, of course, he wanted it to score, of course, but I think the first reaction was to just go talk to Nate. You know, I've been in a situation against TC where I had two turnovers, I went for a touchdown and two turnovers against UCF, where I was like, Man, this kind of sucks. But, you know, for him, I think just showing up for him and being a good teammate.

And I think the first thing I told him was, hey, we're gonna get the ball back. You know, you can never be down and down. And out of a game you have three it was three minutes and 14 seconds left on the clock, you know, we're just thinking, get the ball back and try to go score again.

On development of offense during the bye week with several players stepping up…

UNC — Oct 17, 2025; Berkeley, California, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels running back Benjamin Hall (28) evades tackle by California Golden Bears defensive back Aiden Manutai (14) before running for a touchdown in the first quarter at California Memorial Stadium. | Eakin Howard-Imagn Images

You know, just development, you know, everybody was, you know, at bye week, it felt like everybody was going in after us. And just, we just hear bad thing after bad thing. But then we got closer as a team, and we just developed and put our head down and got, you know, good practice in during the bye week. And I think it just came and showed up today. Of course, we didn't get the outcome we wanted, but I think, you know, step in the right direction.

Oct 28, 2023; Atlanta, Georgia, USA; A detailed view of a North Carolina Tar Heels helmet on the field before a game against the Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets at Bobby Dodd Stadium at Hyundai Field. Mandatory Credit: Brett Davis-Imagn Images | Brett Davis-Imagn Images

Of course, we lost in the feel good. But I think for like, I think there's nothing, of course, we want to win, but just something to look at. Like, man, we can. We're good team. We just got keep putting things together. We still lost this game on our own. We had, I mean, three turnovers, technically, because of last play, but two turnovers that we can clean up and we can win this ball game.

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