UNC Will Be a Work in Progress Under Belichick

There is no doubt that all eyes will be on North Carolina and head coach Bill Belichick.

It will not only be Belichick’s first game as a collegiate head coach, but it will be against a marquee opponent in TCU. The Tar Heels added 70 new players to their roster, while the Horned Frogs return a solid amount of production on both sides of the ball from the year before.

Nick Saban, who served as an assistant under Bill Belichick with the Cleveland Browns, will be in Chapel Hill as part of ESPN’s special College Football Countdown show. The program will be hosted by Matt Barrie and feature analysts Tedy Bruschi, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Saban, along with college football insider Pete Thamel.

What Did Saban Say?

Earlier on Friday, Saban shared his thoughts about what his former boss should expect, as he believes it might take time, but the Tar Heels will get it going in no time under Belichick.

“I think coaching is coaching, but I do think there are what I’d call operational differences,” Saban said, via The Pat McAfee Show. “In college, just take the sidelines for instance — you can have 100 guys out there, while in the NFL you’ve only got about 45. That changes a lot in terms of how you manage things, how it affects you, and how it impacts you.

UNC football coach Bill Belichick during a preseason press conference on Aug. 6, 2025, inside the Kenan Football Center. | Rodd Baxley/The Fayetteville Observer / USA TODAY NETWORK via Imagn Images

“Now, that’s just kind of a silly operational example. I used to make certain guys stand behind the bench because I hated all the traffic on the sidelines. But here’s my point: North Carolina has 70 new players on their roster. Bill is a great coach, a great teacher, and he’s outstanding at developing players. But when you’ve got that many new players, you don’t really have the chance to develop them all right away.

“So my expectation is that it’s going to be a bit of a work in progress. He’s going to make those players better; they’re going to benefit, and they’re going to create more value for the future because of Bill. But it’s going to take some time, and I think everybody should understand that.”

TCU opens up as a 3.5 point favorite over North Carolina on the road, according to BetMGM. However, Belichick is one of the best in the business when it comes to gameplanning. The man shut down "The Greatest Show on Turf" in Super Bowl XXXVI.

While it could be a work in progress, a win over a solid TCU team could speed up the process.