Let’s suppose John Preyer, Lee Roberts and Bubba Cunningham were together watching Carolina’s 38-10 loss to Clemson that was far worse than the final score indicates.
And we could ask all three of them a question.
For Preyer, the former chairman of the Board of Trustees advisory group who was one of the first, if not THE first, person at UNC to be contacted by Bill Belichick’s future general manager Mike Lombardi.
“John, were you the one who gave Belichick an offer sheet for $10 million a season, which was twice as much as Mack Brown made over the last five years and, if so, what do you know about hiring a football coach?”
“Chancellor Roberts, since you admittedly don’t know much about college sports, who else interviewed Belichick to ask the nine-time Super Bowl coach what happened his last five (lousy) years in the NFL and why?
“And Bubba, what do you think about Belichick playing Max Johnson for all 60 minutes against Clemson when a needless injury could have killed whatever diminishing chances the Tar Heel have left of winning another game?”
Two parachuters landed perfectly before the game, which was a metaphor for survival as well as whatever it was supposed to be. The new on-field logo was Window World after State Farm had it for the first two games, and what they paid in UNC’s revenue grab is clearly not worth it. Excited fans waving white towels given out at the entry gates could also have stood for surrender.
Carolina won the opening toss and foolishly chose to defer getting the ball until the second half, killing its only chance to take the lead in the game. It looked even worse when Clemson scored on a 75-yard trick play on the first snap 11 seconds into what would be UNC’s third blowout loss to a Power 4 program by the aggregate score of 120-33.
The Tar Heels did score on their first possession, as Johnson drove them 58 yards to fourth and two at the Tigers’ 16 yard line, where the not-so-riverboat- gambling Hoodie chose to kick a 35-yard field goal by Rece Verhoff.
The rejuvenated 1-3 Tigers, smelling Carolina blue blood in the water, scored a second time by going 75 yards again on three snaps, scored on their third possession on a 45-yard pass and once more on their fourth possession with one second left in the first quarter on Cade Klubnik’s third TD toss of the game. It was 28-3 and a near-full stadium began a slow exit in the second quarter when Clemson scored once to take a 35-3 lead into halftime.
Clemson tight end Christian Bentancur (87) scores a touchdown during the first half of an NCAA college football game against North Carolina, Saturday, Oct. 4, 2025, in Chapel Hill, N.C. (AP Photo/Chris Seward)
Carolina’s next scoring opportunity came at the end of a time-sapping, 13-play drive to start the second half before Verhoff clanged a 50-yard field goal attempt off the left upright. The Heels finally scored in the fourth quarter when Michigan transfer Benjamin Hall had a nice 11-yard run to the left corner of the end zone. By then, there was almost no one left to cheer.
Clemson’s Dabo Swinney, who swooned over the chance to “coach against” Belichick,” clearly called off the dogs in the second half as gesture of respect that forthcoming ACC rivals may not do.
On his pre-game interview with Jones Angell, Belichick said they used their off week to “eliminate things that weren’t working and to improve on things that were,” adding that Gio Lopez was out for the game and Johnson would start.
Was pass defense not one of the things they needed to work on, eventually giving up 400 yards along with four touchdowns in what we used to call the friendly skies of Carolina football when the secondary last sucked?
That happens when the opposition blitzes behind three projected first round picks in the 2026 NFL Draft: edge rusher T.J. Parker, cornerback Avieon Terrell, tackle Peter Woods. The stars rotated in and out of a hot day while holding Carolina to 57 yards rushing and 270 total yards.
Swinney owned his team’s worst starting record since he took over 17 years ago, calling it “bad coaching” but not bad players. “It’s about this team, this season and this moment,” he said before his 300th game as an assistant and head coach Clemson, where his record is now 41-10 against Power 4 opponents and 41-5 against schools from North Carolina.
“We’ve won 10 championships (eight ACC titles and two national championships) in the last 10 years,” he added. “We have a lot of good players and prospects, and we just have to execute better.”
The last time his Tigers visited Chapel Hill was 2019, when they were undefeated and top-ranked and on their way to losing to LSU for the College Football Playoff title. Those Tar Heels almost ended that for them but lost 20-19 after Sam Howell’s two-point conversion failed.
That was Brown’s first year back in his second tenure, and he inherited far more talent and recruited well enough to have a roster that could win games out of the shoot. Brown’s problem, ironically, was that his teams could not hold leads in the fourth quarter causing his dismissal after six seasons.
Carolina’s attempt at building something bigger and better has started off so badly that critics are now saying that Belichick and Lombardi knew too little about the transfer portal and college recruiting, which has taken the gloss off their reputation. They were unable to keep star returnees like linebacker Amari Campbell, who leads Penn State in tackles with 47 in five games, and defensive end Beau Atkinson, who is second in tackling and first in quarterback hits for Ohio State. The new coaching staff either arrived too late or didn’t have enough money to keep either of those stars and/or lacked evaluation skills of younger talent to replace them.
Belichick obviously knows the criticism that is engulfing him, on several fronts, and is now preaching that a major rebuilding job and patience from alumni, donors and fans are required. At this point, the Tar Heels look like they have no chance to beat six of their remaining seven opponents, except for Stanford here on November 9. They are not showing enough to win at Cal in their next game on October 17, then Virginia at home, at Syracuse, at Wake Forest, Duke and at N.C. State.
His players are trying hard, but they are outnumbered and/or out skilled.
“I’m not here to rebuild, I’m here to win football games,” said wide receiver Jordan Shipp, who caught five passes from Johnson for 41yards against Clemson. “Whatever they’re doing with donors, that has nothing to do with me. I’m here to win football games and 100 percent of my focus is on that.”
The team’s focus was not that great after the off week to practice, especially when committing multiple penalties for having too many men in the backfield. There were also mental mistakes like when promising wide receiver Shanard Clower chose to return the kickoff from four yards deep in the end zone that buried the Tar Heels in their own red zone.
That Belichick kept the talented but fragile Johnson on the field until the very last snap seems like playing with fire, since Lopez’s return is unclear and there is no other quarterback on the roster with any experience.
“They’ve got a great defense,” he said before the game. “We’ve just got to stand those guys up and not let them control the game.”
No go.
Featured image via Associated Press/Chris Seward
Art Chansky is a veteran journalist who has written ten books, including best-sellers “Game Changers,” “Blue Bloods,” and “The Dean’s List.” He has contributed to WCHL for decades, having made his first appearance as a student in 1971. His “Sports Notebook” commentary airs daily on the 97.9 The Hill WCHL and his “Art’s Angle” opinion column runs weekly on Chapelboro.Chapelboro.com does not charge subscription fees, and you can directly support our efforts in local journalism here. Want more of what you see on Chapelboro? Let us bring free local news and community information to you by signing up for our newsletter.
