Bill Belichick’s humiliating college football debut brings only schadenfreude or sadness

The greatest head coach in modern NFL history has started anew at UNC. His first game exposed flaws that will be very difficult to fix

Head coach Bill Belichick of the North Carolina Tar Heels. File picture: Grant Halverson/Getty

Half a century of unprecedented success, six Super Bowl rings as a head coach, the NFL’s greatest defensive mind; all undone by 19-year-olds sprinting past missed tackles. Bill Belichick arrived at North Carolina promising to bend college football to his will, to build the “33rd NFL Program” in Chapel Hill, and prove he still had his fastball. College football laughed.

As debut flops go, North Carolina’s 48-14 beatdown at the hands of TCU is as bad as it gets. Belichick’s side didn’t just lose; they were humiliated. UNC looked unprepared, undisciplined and were overmatched against a veteran team.