Yes, it was as bad as it looked.
The Tar Heels went out with a whimper in their 42-19 shellacking at NC State Saturday night. It was the Wolfpack’s fifth straight win against UNC, tied for their longest such run in series history. Between wins No. 4 and 5, Carolina had seen a massive sea change in the leadership of its program, designed to prevent exactly what happened over the last three weeks: losses against in-state rivals in which the Tar Heels weren’t tough enough, physically or mentally.
Head coach Bill Belichick was dour in his postgame “press conference,” though that term is being used very loosely here. Inside NC State’s cramped visiting media space, Belichick mumbled and groused for less than five minutes. Most questions were less to do with the game itself and more about what comes next for Belichick’s program. The head coach was not in the mood.
“We’ve been trying to work on NC State,” Belichick said. “The week before that, we worked on Duke. The week before that, we worked on Wake Forest. The week before that, we worked on Stanford. The week before that, we worked on Syracuse. That’s what we’ve been doing. We’ve been working on a team every week. I’m sorry I don’t have a season recap for you. I don’t have it. We haven’t done it.”
Perhaps I can help Belichick out here a bit. His team finished 4-8, the program’s worst record since 2018. It lost to all three in-state rivals for the first time since 1989, a legendarily bad season which saw Carolina finish 1-10. And in his constant parrying of questions about the future Saturday night, Belichick showed more fight in the press room than his team did on the field.
Not even Jordan Shipp, whose performance both against NC State and across the season at large was a bright spot, could put lipstick on this pig.
“There’s a couple things that need to change,” Shipp said. “I feel like the biggest thing, we just need to start playing with more heart. Just playing with more heart, more effort on every play. Selling out every play, not taking plays off. And situational awareness, situational football. Knowing what’s going on, not getting dumb penalties, stuff like that. Just small stuff. Fundamentals. Really everything, just all around.”
That Shipp even implied teammates weren’t totally invested in Saturday’s game is alarming, to say the least. The NC State game, of all games on UNC’s schedule, is one which is most often defined by emotion and pride. Perhaps it’s a risk inherent in assembling a mercenary roster featuring 70 new players, but the Wolfpack operate in the same system. They suffered no ill effects Saturday.
When questioned further, Shipp walked back his earlier comments – but not completely so.
“I wouldn’t say ‘heart’ was the right word,” he said. “It’s just playing with more discipline. I feel like that’s more what it is. Not really heart. We poured it all out there. We all did. And we just lost. Things happen. But playing with more discipline, more fundamental football. ‘Heart’ wasn’t the right thing. I didn’t mean playing with no heart. More discipline and more ‘want to,’ if that makes more sense.”
When Belichick was hired in December, “discipline” was top of mind for hopeful Carolina football fans. Belichick’s best New England Patriots teams were always locked in on fundamentals and hardly ever beat themselves, no matter the talent disparity. And it’s true that, if nothing else, the Tar Heels kept penalties in check for most of the season. But they committed 38 across the final four games of the season, mentally folding with a bowl bid within reach.
Now, UNC will watch as Wake Forest, Duke and NC State all go bowling – but not before the Blue Devils play in the ACC Championship Game this weekend. All three Tobacco Road rivals outclassed the Tar Heels this season. All three have leadership whose passion for the program is never in question.
As for Carolina? Well, the Tar Heels are stuck with the grumpiest, lousiest, most embarrassing head coach in college football.
Featured image via Associated Press/Karl DeBlaker
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