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The one-month countdown begins today.
The Tar Heels under coach Bill Belichick open the 2025 football season with as much excitement as is palatable.
Alumni and fans who have sold out the stadium in record time are at the top of the anticipation poll, even if their football team is picked to finish only eighth in the ACC.
Football seems to be in the eye of the hurricane around UNC these days.
Chancellor Lee Roberts has talked for months about turning the old Chapel Hill airport location into something special for the university. First came talk of building a new basketball arena there, followed by the idea of adding retail and residential to the complex.
Lately, it has swung in the direction of a multi-use sportsplex with fields for soccer, cricket and any other outdoor activity that will generate large revenue streams for the university. That would be adjacent to the new basketball arena that is still under heavy debate among alumni, local residents and especially students who are against an off-campus home for the hoop Heels.
Right now, most of the focus is on football after UNC hired Belichick for $30 million guaranteed over three seasons and two more at $10 million each if the love affair lasts and the high-profile Hoodie stays into his late ’70s. The Labor Day night opener against a good TCU opponent from the Big 12 is leaving the fan base breathless, even though Carolina’s patchwork roster does not compare to that of the Horned Frogs.
With Carolina losing more than two dozen transfers from the Mack Brown era, Belichick and his staff have reeled in 40 new players from other schools along with what was left of Brown’s last recruiting class.
TCU’s star quarterback Josh Hoover is rated much higher than anyone the Tar Heels might put under center, likely at this point to be 6-foot lefty Gio Lopez from South Alabama. As UNC has pledged more money to football than in the past, a return on that investment and Belichick’s massive contract, realistically, may not show up until the 2026 season.
Still, the approaching opener promises to attract a standing-room-only crowd to watch Belichick in person on his first college sideline after an NFL Hall of Fame career and six Super Bowl championships.
If the Heels can beat the Frogs, they have the schedule to be 4-0 when ACC favorite and nationally ranked Clemson comes to town on October 4. The only other top tier conference foe is No. 6 Duke, while the rest of the schedule has No. 10 N.C. State, No. 12 Syracuse and the 14th, 15th, 16th and 17th picks in the league.
As the Tar Heels spend the entire month of August in training camp, Belichick will get a good look at who he has taking the field on ESPN in the only college game played on September 1, when the football world will be watching.
Let the August angst begin.
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.
