Belichick’s First UNC Foe (TCU)
Presents Inspiration, Perspiration

By David Glenn
North Carolina Sports Network
(last updated Aug. 29, 2025)

When North Carolina and TCU agreed to play a two-game football series almost a decade ago, in 2016, Larry Fedora was the head coach of the Tar Heels and Gary Patterson was the head coach of the Horned Frogs.

Now that the first of those two games is almost here (Monday, 8 p.m., ESPN), both programs have different head coaches, each with a fascinating story to tell.

Patterson’s successor at TCU, Sonny Dykes, is entering his fourth season with the Horned Frogs. The first-year coach of the Carolina program, of course, is 73-year-old Bill Belichick, an eight-time Super Bowl champion and one of the greatest leaders in National Football League history.

Dykes, whose team also played in a much-hyped opening game two years ago, when Deion Sanders made his coaching debut at Colorado (the Buffaloes upset TCU in that one), said he was shocked this past December, when Belichick was introduced as Mack Brown’s successor in Chapel Hill.

“Yeah, I was surprised like everyone else,” Dykes said. “You could’ve gotten pretty good odds a year ago that Belichick would be the coach at North Carolina. Obviously, he’s one of the greatest coaches of all time, with his record and Super Bowl success in New England.”

Especially considering the massive hype around UNC’s nationally televised opener — it will be played in a truly exclusive gridiron TV window (a rarity), with no other NFL or major college football game being played on Labor Day night — it’s impossible to miss the symbolism of Dykes’ TCU program serving as the first opponent of Belichick’s much-anticipated tenure with the Tar Heels.

Just three years ago, Dykes made one of the biggest and most unexpected first-year head coaching splashes in modern college football history.

Despite inheriting a program that had a losing record (5-7) the previous season, and after being picked to finish seventh in the Big 12 (which had only 10 teams at the time), Dykes led TCU to a 13-2 record and a trip to the national championship game.

(UNC is coming off a 6-7 record and was picked to finish eighth in the 17-team ACC.)

During this College Football Playoff era, fans have come to expect to see certain programs in the national championship game. Alabama has been there six times in 11 seasons. Clemson (four), Georgia (three) and Ohio State (three) also have been regular participants. Two more big brand names, LSU and Michigan, are the only other schools that have won the national championship in the CFP format.

TCU? Not so much.

The Horned Frogs have surged occasionally, including with seven national top-10 finishes in Patterson’s 21-year tenure, but they also once went 40 straight seasons (1960-99) without a single Top 25 team.

UNC’s gridiron track record has been even more modest lately. The Tar Heels haven’t finished in the national top 10 since Brown, during his first Carolina tenure, led teams that finished with back-to-back records of 10-2 and 11-1 in 1996 and 1997. The Heels haven’t won the ACC football title since 1980.

Now North Carolina, for the first time in school history, has one of the highest-paid football coaches in America, with Belichick making $10 million per year.

Could Belichick possibly make a first-year splash at UNC the way Dykes did at TCU just three years ago?

While the 2025 Tar Heels have what appears to be a manageable schedule — among their 12 regular-season opponents, only Clemson seems a juggernaut — there are some major differences between Dykes’ 2022 team and Belichick’s 2025 squad.

Quarterback: In 2022, Dykes inherited senior Max Duggan, who had been TCU’s starter for the previous three seasons. Although Duggan didn’t start the Horned Frogs’ opener that year, he rallied them to victory in that game and then quickly emerged as an All-American and the Big 12’s Offensive Player of the Year.

The 2025 Tar Heels have an intriguing but unpredictable mix at quarterback, led by South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez (the starter; top 25 in total offense nationally last season but didn’t arrive until after UNC’s spring practice), sixth-year senior Max Johnson (has started for LSU, Texas A&M and UNC but returning from a serious leg injury) and true freshman Bryce Baker (prep All-American who enrolled in January).

Running Back: In 2022, Dykes inherited another future NFL player in Kendre Miller, who had been a valuable backup for TCU over the previous two seasons. As a junior, running behind a dominant line (see below), Miller exploded for 1,399 rushing yards and 17 touchdowns. He opted to become an early NFL draft entry after the season, and the New Orleans Saints selected him in the third round. He’s now one of the Saints’ top running backs this season, as a third-year pro.

The 2025 Tar Heels would have loved to have had two-time first-team All-American running back Omarion Hampton back for one more season in Chapel Hill, but he entered the NFL draft in April after his junior season and became a first-round pick (#22 overall) of the Los Angles Chargers.

Hampton’s 2024 backup, Davion Gause, had 67 carries for 326 yards and four touchdowns last season as a true freshman and is back to seek the starting job. Redshirt senior Caleb Hood and redshirt sophomore Charleston French are the other returnees in UNC’s running back room, which also welcomed Michigan transfer Benjamin Hall (5-11/235) and four true freshmen into the mix.

Offensive Line: In 2022, Dykes inherited five veteran players — all juniors and seniors — with extensive starting experience. He juggled their positions a bit compared to previous years, but in the end all five guys started every game at the same positions during the Horned Frogs’ 13-2 dream season, and four of them received some type of All-Big 12 recognition.

The 2025 Tar Heels have a lot more questions than answers on the offensive line as they head into their opener.

One returning starter, Austin Blaske, is expected to miss the first month of the season after suffering a broken foot during preseason camp. Center Christo Kelly, a promising Holy Cross transfer who was one of only four players UNC nominated for preseason All-ACC consideration, also recently suffered a lower-body injury. (His status for the TCU game hasn’t been announced yet.) Carolina likes its guards — Troy transfer Daniel King and returning starter Aidan Banfield (Blaske can help at center or guard upon his return) — but things appear far more unpredictable at tackle.

The top candidates for the two starting tackle roles include a returning starter who had a rough 2024 campaign (6-7, 340-pound sophomore Trevyon Green), a true freshman who didn’t arrive until after spring practice (6-9, 330-pound Eidan Buchanan), a Jacksonville State transfer who didn’t arrive until after spring practice (6-3, 290-pound fifth-year senior Will O’Steen) and a seventh-year senior coming off a major shoulder injury (6-6, 318-pound South Carolina transfer Jakai Moore).

Considering those enormous differences, UNC doesn’t appear to be a serious candidate for the College Football Playoff, much less a trip to the national championship game, although that doesn’t mean the Tar Heels can’t have a good season, perhaps starting with their performance against TCU (a three-point favorite) on Monday.

“It’s going to be important for us to respect what (Belichick) has done and know his team will be really prepared, but at the same time, he’s adjusting to college football,” Dykes said. “He’s obviously really, really good. But how is his thinking going to transition to college football?

“It’ll be interesting to see.”