UNC Football Relishing The Belichick Effect: 'He's Got So Much Aura'

They were standing at attention before he even stepped into the hallway.

Two parallel rows of cameras and reporters, flanking the narrow walkway inside the Charlotte Hilton running from a holding room to the press conference area.

It wasn’t even time for the media session yet. But everyone knew Bill Belichick was about to walk this way. The promise of a glimpse of the man – five seconds, if you’re lucky – was enough.

That is the scene which will follow the Tar Heels everywhere they go in 2025. It’s the price to pay – well, that and $10 million annually – for enlisting the services of the most famous football coach in the world. As many reporters put it in Charlotte last week, Bill Belichick isn’t just “football famous.” The man is famous famous.

“When opposing teams’ coaches are a little bit ‘fanned out’ when they see our coach, that just goes to show the influence he’s had on the sport of football,” said defensive back Thad Dixon. “And the influence he’s had on a lot of people’s lives.”

Dixon said this in the breakout room next to the official press conference area. The room was a decently sized gathering space, and for 16 of the 17 teams attending the ACC Kickoff, it was more than enough for four players and the head coach to speak to the gathered media separately. But Bill Belichick is a different beast.

When he sat down at his assigned seat, so many media had gathered that the session turned into a de facto second presser. Unlike most breakout sessions, where reporters fire off questions at will, this one was delegated by raised hands and the discretion of Belichick’s personal PR man, Brandon Faber.

North Carolina coach Bill Belichick speaks with a group of reporters during the Atlantic Coast Conference’s NCAA college football media days, Thursday, July 24, 2025, in Charlotte, N.C. (AP Photo/Aaron Beard)

Off to Belichick’s left, outside the frame of the above photo, Dixon sat at his dais. A modest group surrounded him, made up of those either not lucky enough to snag a Belichick seat or just preferring to avoid the cacophony of it all. Dixon gave a wry smile whenever he looked over and caught a glimpse of his head coach.

“That’s Bill Belichick. Of course everybody’s gonna circle him up and try and ask as many questions as possible,” he said with a laugh. “I mean, look at the dude. He’s a living legend. He’s got so much aura.”

The kids call it “aura.” Older readers have different words for it: “presence” comes to mind, or “gravitas.” Whatever your term of choice, the meaning is the same: when Bill Belichick walks into the room, that space’s gravity tilts toward the eight-time Super Bowl champion.

“He’s the greatest coach of all time,” said quarterback Gio Lopez. “So you be quiet and you listen when he talks.”

One daring media member was so taken with being in the same room as Belichick that a harebrained idea began to form. Word soon spread around the Hilton: someone had nabbed Belichick’s nameplate from the breakout room. The “crime” bears striking resemblance to one perpetrated against the head coach’s star quarterback: Tom Brady’s jersey was stolen out of the New England Patriots’ locker room following Super Bowl LI in 2017.

Perhaps this is a sign that Belichick’s gamble is working, and that his promise made in the opening days of his tenure in Chapel Hill has come to fruition: UNC truly has turned into the 33rd NFL team.

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UNC Football Relishing The Belichick Effect: ‘He’s Got So Much Aura’

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