The Tar Heels felt the rain on their skin.
No one else could feel it for them. Only they could let it in.
They drenched themselves in words unspoken. They played TCU with arms wide open. And Saturday is where their book begins.
The 15-10 win against the Horned Frogs will only go into the record book as one game. But for a Carolina football program which has weathered months of negative press, an investigation into its general manager and the absence of one of its top assistant coaches, it felt a heck of a lot more important than that.
For once, it was UNC’s opponent which shot itself in the foot more often than not. For once, it was UNC which made the intelligent plays down the stretch. For once, it was UNC which got to hold up the ceremonial trophy. And the Tar Heels did it against an opponent which humiliated them in their own backyard a year ago.
Here’s what the final seconds sounded like on the Tar Heel Sports Network:
Head coach Bill Belichick is famous for his aversion to all things social media, but he was no doubt aware of the narratives around his program heading into Saturday’s game. And that absent top assistant? That would be Bill’s son Steve Belichick, the defensive coordinator for the Tar Heels currently out on medical leave. Bill took the defensive playcalling reins against the Horned Frogs, and all he did was hold TCU scoreless across the game’s final 49 minutes.
Regardless of how personally satisfying the win may have been for Belichick, he deferred all credit.
“I’m just happy for the players,” Belichick told the Tar Heel Sports Network after the win. “They’ve worked really hard. They worked hard through the spring, they worked hard in the summer in training, they worked hard in training camp. And to have positive results back up that hard work reinforces it. They’ve been believing in what we’re doing, but I think this gives everybody a little bit more belief. We’ve just got to keep building.”
Belichick wasn’t the only one writing a personal redemption story Saturday. Quarterback Billy Edwards was back on the field after missing nearly the entire 2025 season at Wisconsin. Edwards had transferred to Wisconsin from Maryland, hoping to revitalize the Badger program. That didn’t work out for either side: Edwards was injured in the opener, and Wisconsin finished 4-8.
Edwards didn’t necessarily do anything to shake his reputation as a game manager, but the new UNC starter did enough to keep the Tar Heels in the fight. Perhaps even more importantly, he didn’t do anything catastrophic to take them out of it.
“I’m just really happy to be able to come out here and start the season off on the right note,” Edwards told ESPN shortly after the win. “We’ve got a lot of stuff to clean up, but at least we can do it in the victory column.”
Among UNC’s rewards for winning the Aer Lingus College Football Classic were an on-field ceremony, several crystal trophies, a celebratory night in a city famous for its partying and a happy flight back stateside.
North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick, right, and his team celebrate after defeating TCU in an NCAA college football game in Dublin, Ireland, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026. (AP Photo/Peter Morrison)
Because of that long flight home, UNC will now enjoy the first of its two bye weeks while preparing for its home opener against FCS East Tennessee State. Should the Tar Heels take care of business there, they’d enter a road matchup at Clemson with a 2-0 record, the first time the team has been two games above .500 in Belichick’s tenure. And who knows? The Tigers certainly aren’t the national powerhouse they used to be.
But let’s not get caught up in the feel-good notions of a win on national television. If the players learned anything from last season, it’s not to let a positive start go to their heads. After all, for the 2026 Tar Heels, the rest of the season is still unwritten.
Featured image via Associated Press/Peter Morrison
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