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For sure, Tom Brady won’t be on the practice field Saturday.
The Tar Heels of coach Bill Belichick will hold what we’ve been used to calling for years the Spring Game, the conclusion of spring practice. But Belichick and his staff have renamed it “Practice Like a Pro,” another spin on the Hoodie’s claim that Carolina football is now the 33rd NFL team.
Admission is free with lots of food to eat and things to do for fans and kids before action gets underway at 6:30 in Kenan Stadium. It should be kind of similar to open practices Belichick held in his two decades coaching the Patriots, the NFL’s best team during those 20 or so years.
But players like Brady, Julian Edelman and Rob Gronkowski won’t be out there with the 100 or so players listed on the latest roster. Some of those are familiar names of returnees like defensive back Marcus Allen, defensive lineman Beau Atkinson, wide receivers Gavin Blackwell, Chris Culliver and Christian Hamilton, center Austin Blaske, linebacker Amare Campbell, defensive backs Kaleb Cost and Will Hardy, running backs Caleb Hood and Davion Gause, punter Tom Maginness and kicker Liam Boyd and especially quarterbacks of whom only one name is familiar.
Max Johnson, the transfer from two SEC schools, would likely be a leader in the clubhouse if he weren’t still rehabbing his gruesome broken leg from the third quarter of the opening game last year at Minnesota. The other sort-of-known QB is freshman Bryce Baker, who accompanied Belichick onto the Smith Center court when they were both introduced last December.
Bryce Baker joins Bill Belichick on the Roy Williams Court. Baker signed his official commitment to play for UNC after delaying the formal step once Mack Brown was fired. (Image via Todd Melet)
Belichick will likely be on the sideline in a Tar Heel hoodie due to chilly 55-degree temperatures expected for the night debut of a new coach with a new system and a roster that needs to shape up in a hurry for the Labor Day opener against TCU.
According to the story on GoHeels.com, the event will be run similarly to open practices the Patriots held when Belichick coached them to nine Super Bowls and six championships. It will feature multiple periods of action, with an in-stadium emcee providing details on what will happen in each period. UNC’s spring roster boasts 32 newcomers, including 18 transfers and 14 freshmen, plus about 60 from last season’s roster who are hardly household names.
Following practice, players will be available for a brief autograph session; fans are invited down to the field level wall to meet the 2025 Tar Heels as they exit the field. The event will also feature Kenan Stadium’s new grass field, which was converted over the last few months and also features a synthetic turf perimeter and mirrors the look of Kenan’s natural grass field from 2017-19.
With brisk ticket sales to see Belichick’s first-ever college team comes trepidation over an NFL legend taking over for college Hall of Famer Mack Brown, who led the Heels to six straight bowl games.
Curiosity, at the very least, should be high.
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.
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