UNC wanted the Deion Sanders effect with Bill Belichick, along with wins. It got something much different

Two years ago, North Carolina decided it was in the best interest of its athletic department to hire Bill Belichick as its next head coach after firing Mack Brown.

While there was plenty of fanfare surrounding the hire — something Tar Heels administrators were counting on to sell season tickets and usher UNC into a new era of college football in Chapel Hill — the results and off-field drama have done little to inspire optimism around campus.

I somewhat get it.

This was the splash hire that a few among the board of trustees were hoping would launch North Carolina into the same spotlight as Deion Sanders did for Colorado in year one.

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And sure, the Tar Heels were a major part of the conversation of the 2025 season, but for all the wrong reasons following the opener against TCU.

A stadium filled with celebrities, like Michael Jordan, made for great television that also led to reporters flocking to Chapel Hill to cover the Belichick era in college football.

It was as if North Carolina was using the Deion Sanders playbook in garnering the national attention that was worthy enough for the legendary New England Patriots coach making his college football debut.

But, unlike what was happening during Colorado’s first season under Deion Sanders, the North Carolina football team looked as though they had taken numerous steps backwards.

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Rebuilding a team through the transfer portal was not going to be an easy task, with over sixty new players on the UNC roster.

The problem is that UNC did not need to be vaulted onto the national college football scene, with a brand that had already established a name behind past success, even if that spotlight had dimmed in previous years.

Off-field drama has led to plenty of questions about longevity

When some North Carolina board of trustee members decided to kick the tires on bringing Bill Belichick to college football, I’d imagine they did not expect the onslaught of bad public relations to come with it.

I don’t suspect that the UNC athletic department thought it would be fielding more questions about Belichick’s relationship with girlfriend Jordon Hudson than the actual football team midway through his first season as head coach.

In what might have been the wackiest time in North Carolina football history, and that’s saying something, the presence of a 25-year-old woman roaming the sidelines actually became one of the main storylines of the 2025 season, to the dismay of those writing the checks to fund this roster.

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Fast-forward to the opening game of the 2026 season against TCU in just three weeks, and we are staring down one of the biggest disasters in recent college football memory.

This is not worth a 5-year contract worth $10 million per season, and those within the athletic department are well-aware of what could happen if UNC puts together back-to-back abysmal seasons.

And then, it was the human resources investigation into general manager Michael Lombardi that sent this entire saga into new waters, thanks to a tip from a former North Carolina staffer.

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Before Fall camp had even got underway, the school had announced that Lombardi was under investigation. No, this did not come from the athletic department, but the school itself, which put an even bigger spotlight on the problems currently plaguing the Tar Heels football program.

“The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill has placed Michael Lombardi, general manager for the Carolina football program, on paid administrative leave, effective immediately,” the school announced at the time.

Outside counsel had also been hired to investigate the HR complaint against Lombardi, which is still ongoing, as the general manager hired noted attorney Tom Mars to handle this inquiry.

So, we wait, just like UNC officials are waiting to see their investment pay off.

 

What happens if North Carolina falls flat again this season?

That’s the question athletic department staffers, along with donors who have spent a lot of their own money on this experiment, are contemplating before the ball is even kicked off in Dublin, Ireland, later this month.

Only three years of Belichick’s contract were guaranteed, meaning the school would have to pay out the last season of that deal if they were to decide this saga was not worth the hassle any longer.

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Don’t forget, the Tar Heels have a new athletic director in Steve Newmark, who took over for outgoing AD Bubba Cunningham. So, there are already questions as to whether the new man in charge would want to bring in his own hire if things continue trending in this direction under Belichick.

And yes, North Carolina can afford it. We are in the midst of a changing landscape in college football, with revenue-sharing and NIL soaring to new heights.

There are also plenty of experienced college football coaches who would jump at the opportunity to take the UNC job if it were to open, and probably find success in quicker fashion than Belichick.

When this all started, some North Carolina board members thought the Super Bowls won by the legendary NFL coach would translate into success at the college level.

Now, heading into year two of this wild experiment, those same folks are just hoping to win enough games to secure a decent bowl game in December.

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If only they had given Mack Brown the same resources during his time in Chapel Hill.