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The Belichick name is more synonymous with defense.
The focus on next Monday night’s opening game under Bill Belichick will have nothing to do with defending the distractions associated with the head coach’s young girlfriend.
Hopefully, that has calmed down after a headline-filled summer when football was not played or practiced. But just before the ACC Kickoff media week in late July, big Brandon Faber publicly joined the Hoodie as ad hoc distractions coordinator, and it worked.
Belichick has his private social time and has been seen enjoying dinner in Chapel Hill restaurants, but he is clearly in full mode coaching now that the countdown to the first game has started.
After graduating from Wesleyan College, Belichick was an unknown coach whose football connection was through his father, a three-decade college scout, and his first NFL job was driving members of old Baltimore Colts staff around so he could be a sponge and continue to learn more football after growing up with his dad.
He moved up the ranks with several other NFL teams until he became the defensive coordinator for Bill Parcell’s two-time Super Bowl champion New York Giants. In 24 seasons as the head coach with the Patriots, he coached the defense more than the offense.
In New England he drafted a sixth-round quarterback named Tom Brady who, on the field, led the Pats to six Super Bowl titles and was said to be more important to the franchise than the head coach.
In missing the playoffs in three of his last four seasons, the Patriots were far better on defense than offense without Brady. And his new defensive coordinator at Carolina is his oldest son Steve Belichick.
Bill was out of football last season and spent much of spring practice and training camp at the University of Washington, where Steve led a defense that was top 30 in Division I football.
And Steve will have some familiar faces when the Tar Heels take the field against TCU on Labor Day night. Defensive back Thaddeus Dixon and linebacker Khmori House followed THEIR coach Belichick to Chapel Hill, and that’s a good start.
The Horned Frogs are big and tough and slippery to handle with a bevy of receivers who helped TCU pass for more than 4,000 yards in 2024 and have lost only leading receiver Jack Bech, who is now with the Raiders. Returning quarterback Josh Hoover completed 67 percent of his throws for just under 4,000 yards and 27 touchdowns.
Carolina is not exactly loaded with returning offensive skill players and will probably start Gio Lopez, a 6-foot transfer QB from South Alabama. So it is unlikely that the Heels can win a shootout and will rely on Steve B’s defense to stop a Frogs offense that put up 32.5 points a game on 5,549 yards and 55 TDs.
TCU went 9-4 last season and finished second in the Big 12.
Featured image via UNC Athletic Communications/Jeffrey A. Camarati
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.
