Let’s get one thing out of the way first: UNC’s new offensive coordinator is known for more than just being a football coach.
Ask Atlanta Falcons fans about Bobby Petrino’s antics. Or the folks in Louisville. Or Arkansas. The paper trail that follows Petrino everywhere he goes is long, and it bends toward absurdity. Egregiously impersonal notes of farewell taped up in lockers. Admitted affairs with young staffers. Motorcycle accidents — with said staffer in tow. Yes, it’s a lot.
But there’s something hiding behind those sordid headlines: Bobby Petrino is still a talented coach. The Arkansas Razorbacks may have slogged through a difficult season in 2025 during Petrino’s most recent stop in Fayetteville, but it was not the fault of his offense. Arkansas totaled more than 450 yards of offense per game, 18th in FBS college football. Compare that to UNC, which ranked 129th out of 134 teams last season at 289 yards per game. Clearly, there’s nowhere in Chapel Hill to go but up.
“The whole building feels a little rejuvenated, revitalized,” said running back Ben Hall, who will enter his second season as a Tar Heel this fall. “Got some new energy in here… it’s just a new environment.”
Hall had stepped to the podium after taking a seat among the assembled media at the Kenan Football Center for Petrino’s press conference Tuesday morning — his first official appearance since being hired in January. Hall’s ears doubtless perked up when he heard Petrino describe what made his best offenses tick.
“We’ve always been a power run team,” Petrino said. “I think you have to run the football. You have to run it when you want to run it. So when it’s short yardage, goal line, four-minute offense to end the game, you can run it when they [the defense] know you’re gonna run the football.”
What an intriguing prospect that is to a UNC team which desperately missed the presence of All-American running back Omarion Hampton last season, who suited up for the NFL’s Los Angeles Chargers instead of the Tar Heels in 2025. Without Hampton, Carolina dropped from 182.3 rushing yards per game in 2024 (fourth in the ACC) to 105.3 in 2025 (14th in the ACC). Meanwhile, Arkansas’ 191.9 rushing yards per game ranked second in the rugged SEC.
It was that type of production which inspired Bill Belichick to give Petrino a call this past winter. Belichick is no stranger to inflammatory headlines himself – though certainly nothing as outrageous as what Petrino has produced – and has plenty of experience in shutting out that particular type of noise. The two coaches had met before, though only as much as a college and NFL coach can: putting out feelers for potential draft picks, asking about other players in the conference, and the like.
Now that the pair are working together, similarities have come to the surface. Both Belichick and Petrino are the sons of football coaches. Both had formative experiences working for legendarily tough NFL disciplinarians: Belichick for Bill Parcells with the New York Giants, Petrino for Tom Coughlin with the Jacksonville Jaguars.
And yes, both have won. A lot. Neither Louisville nor Arkansas has yet gotten back to the apexes they reached under Petrino’s leadership. The New England Patriots will likely never again become the destroyer of worlds they were in the glory days of Belichick and Tom Brady (though Drake Maye could have something to say about that). Tar Heel fans hope this brain trust can flush away the memories of what was a morose 2025 season.
“I’ve known Bobby for a long time,” Belichick said last month. “I think a lot of the things that he did are similar to what we did at New England… there’s definitely similarities in concepts and so forth. We’ve had a pretty easy time getting on the same page.
“We just weren’t able to really get there last year for a number of reasons,” Belichick continued, putting forth a strong contender for understatement of the decade. “This year, we’re much further ahead in that process.”
Petrino inherits an offense which will feature many more known quantities this spring than last. For one, we know the quarterback who will take the opening snap against TCU in August is currently suiting up in UNC colors. That was not the case last year, as Gio Lopez spent his spring with South Alabama before transferring to Chapel Hill. The NCAA’s elimination of a second, post-spring practice transfer portal window has done away with that possibility.
There are other veteran contributors who have proven to be quality players on the college stage. Jordan Shipp’s name has been mentioned more than any other player this spring, as much for his leadership as for his play. At running back, both Hall and rising sophomore Demon June return to the backfield after encouraging flashes last season.
Those are talented players, to be sure. But Petrino’s last competitive team on the FBS stage featured Lamar Jackson, one of the most transcendent college talents of his era. No Heisman Trophy winners are walking through the Kenan Football Center doors. And if Petrino is to ensure UNC isn’t looking for its fourth offensive coordinator in four years this coming offseason, he’ll have to build the Tar Heels into more than the sum of their parts. That’s a challenge he is ready to accept.
“This has always been a way of life for me,” Petrino said. “The quickest time of the day is in the meeting room with the players and on the practice field. The clock ticks and goes fast. I think as long as that keeps happening, I can do this for a long time.”
Featured image via Associated Press/Michael Woods
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