Bill Belichick’s Blowout Loss in His UNC Debut Is Just One Game, But…

• The Bill Belichick blowout UNC loss in his debut as a college football coach sparked relentless mockery
• In case Belichick didn’t know, NCAAF is far different from the NFL
• It’s one game and should be treated as such, but after that performance, his image and legacy are teetering even more than they were before

TCU Drops the Hammer on Belichick and UNC

UNC’s first drive of the game was a clinic. They were efficient, effective, ran the ball, made precision passes, and scored a touchdown.

And that was the highlight of the game.

TCU subsequently scored 41 unanswered points on its way to a 48-14 win.

The game included:

• Two defensive TDs on a 15-yard interception return and a 37-yard fumble return
• A 75-yard TD run
• A 28-yard TD run
• Three turnovers

This is not solely about the 48 points. It’s about how TCU scored its points.

At their apex, Bill Belichick-coached teams did not make glaring mistakes. They focused on ball security, stopping the run, and a diverse, mistake-free offense. None of that was evident in his debut as UNC’s head coach.

While it’s only one game, Belichick cannot pull the same tricks in college as he did in the pros. Saying, “We’re onto Charlotte,” their next opponent, against whom they are currently 13.5-point favorites, will not cut it.

Belichick Invited This Scrutiny and More

Belichick has not come across as an honorable person throughout his career. His behavior after leaving the Patriots has made him look worse than he did before amid the allegations of cheating, the way he walked on the Jets, the treatment of former assistants who dared defy him, and sore losing.

Among the other controversial activities with his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, he’s engaging in a passive-aggressive back-and-forth with Bob and Jonathan Kraft.

Suffice it to say that even the Belichick loyalists who will defend him to their last breath must be questioning his decisions in recent years.

Whether this is a desperate attempt to reinvent himself and prove that he was the key instead of Tom Brady, or he wants to coach football and went to the one place where he got exactly what he wanted to do it, he still needs to show results.

UNC alumni, including sports legends, expect a lot.

A Positive Spin?

Belichick did not forget how to coach football simply because he had a few terrible seasons after the Patriots’ dynasty came undone and Tom Brady departed. Nor does one loss in his first game as a college coach at North Carolina mean that it will not work. UNC has games against opponents they should beat in the coming weeks, and they were not expected to immediately compete for a championship.

The Dour Personality + Losing = An Inevitable End

His off-field activities and the embarrassments therein are a different matter. If UNC ends up worse than 6-6, the same record that got veteran NCAAF coach Mack Brown forced out, will the school be able to justify not just the on-field product, but dealing with Belichick himself?

Will the UNC boosters, conservatives who believe in Southern sensibilities, accept Belichick with his attitude, miserableness, the 24-year-old girlfriend, the money they’re spending, and nonstop losing?

Had the Patriots been mediocre with Belichick’s morose personality and constant controversies, he would have been fired long ago. But they kept winning championships, so titles took precedence. He’s not winning titles now and was humiliated in his first game.

The first game is just that, but he would be well-advised to get this thing turned around and fast, or the dwindling reputation he carted with him that it was Brady and not Belichick will go into overdrive, and his legacy will not be tarnished, but demolished.

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