Bill Belichick Revisits UNC’s Recruiting Limitations

North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick recently revisited where the Tar Heels went wrong in terms of recruiting.

Sep 13, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick before the game at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Despite having NFL head coaching experience, the life of a college football HC is much more difficult. North Carolina's Bill Belichick faced the harsh reality of dealing with recruiting, NIL, the transfer portal, and everything that comes with UNC football.

Recently, he spoke about the difficulties of putting a team together. Coming off their Bye week, the Tarheels are looking to snap a two-game losing streak as they fell to Clemson, 38-10, in their conference opener.

Bill Belichick | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

• "We went out and signed a lot of players," Belichick said. "We signed players who didn't have offers or offers that they didn't want. Kind of slid through the cracks in terms of the recruiting process."

• He continued, "We signed players in the transfer portal that were available. We were late in the running on a lot of them. We were late on relationships. We were late on it in contacts. We ran out of time. We did the best we could."

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. Mandatory Credit: Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images | Jim Dedmon-Imagn Images

The General Manager

Michael Lombardi, the North Carolina General Manager, worked hand-in-hand with Belichick during his 2014-16 tenure with the New England Patriots.

Throughout his career, he won Super Bowl XIX, XLIX, and LI. The NFL world may be a complete 180 compared to the college football lifestyle, but Belichick had high praise for the GM.

Bill Belichick speaking to the press before UNC's first practice of fall camp on Aug. 2, 2025 | Jackson McCurdy, North Carolina Tar Heels On SI

• "I think Michael [Lombardi] and his staff did a great job of upgrading the roster, and then it was upgraded again in the spring after spring ball. I mean, our football team is a lot better than what it was at the end of spring ball, I can tell you that," Belichick added.

• He concluded, "In terms of the opportunities we had, could we have done some things going after some different players or whatever, I'd say we got the ones we go and there were others we were after that we didn't get."

First time I've really heard (and someone can correct me if I'm wrong) Belichick acknowledge the Tar Heels' roster building limitations.

"We went out and signed a lot of players. Wee signed players who didn't have offers or offers that they didn't want. Kind of slid through the…

— Brian Murphy (@murphsturph) October 13, 2025

WRAL news reported that a source informed them Lombardi was set to offer a player $50,000 to stay; however, the player was already making $100,000. Seeing as Lombardi is still new to the program, and Belichick joined three days after the transfer portal opened, the 2025 season was never going to work in their favor.

Moving forward, Belichick and his staff have a chance to change things. They may be 2-3 (0-1), but there are quite a few winnable games on the rest of their schedule. Should UNC turn things around in their next few games, all the buyout talks will fade away and the Tarheels can look towards building a successful future.

Please follow us on X when you click right here!

Please make sure you follow us today on our Facebook page when you click right here!