It was quite clear that the fans turned out to witness the debut of Bill Belichick.coaching the North Carolina Tar Heels. As it turned out, NFL scouts turned out to see TCU players.
Those same scouts collectively noted that the Tar Heels had a “talent deficit” after observing how the Horn Frogs dismantled UNC by a 48-14 count in Chapel Hill.
North Carolina scored on its first drive before TCU scored the next 41 points to turn the contest into a nightmare for Tar Heels followers. My observation was that the Tar Heels may have a great coach, but that coach does not have much talent on his roster. ESPN reported after the game that UNC likely has just two players who will be drafted into the NFL next season.
Everyone knows that Belichick enjoyed his glory years in the NFL at New England watching quarterback Tom Brady win games (and championships) for him. On Monday, he watched his quarterback, Gio Lopez, complete just four of 10 passes for 69 yards with one interception.
Meanwhile, Belichick’s defense gave up 284 passing yards on 27 completions of 36 pass attempts. Two of the completions were for touchdowns.
This was not at all how it was supposed to look at Kenan Stadium. The Heels have not had a noteworthy defense in well over a decade. Enter Belichick. He has never coached a team that gave up 48 points, a total that is the most the Tar Heels have ever given up in an opener.
Obviously, there’s a lot to fix at North Carolina after this one for a program that appears to have more problems post-Mack Brown than many assumed, perhaps even Belichick.
Next up for the Heels is Charlotte. You would think UNC would have a talent edge in this one. The multi-million dollar experiment with Belichick continues. Finding and identifying talent became a problem for Belichick in his later years at New England. It appears that it is an issue here in North Carolina.
