players and parents blaming it for the team\u2019s on-field struggles<\/a>. But at the ACC Kickoff event in Charlotte, UNC veterans said this offseason has been different, trying to create a culture of accountability around player-run practices and workouts.<\/p>\n\u201cIf anybody showed up late, just don\u2019t work out with us for the day,\u201d receiver Jordan Shipp said. \u201cYou got to get your workout on your own, on your own time.\u201d<\/p>\n
Said center Cristo Kelly: \u201cStandard is defined by what you promote and what you permit. What you promote comes from the top, but ultimately the players are the ones that are relaying the message. And then what you permit, that\u2019s the players holding each other accountable each and every day.\u201d<\/p>\n
The NCAA abolished the post-spring practice transfer portal, meaning most teams, including UNC, have had most of their team in place since January. The Tar Heels have 60 new players, including 40 freshmen. All but five or six have been on campus since January, Belichick said.<\/p>\n
Unlike last year\u2019s team, which Belichick said was starting form \u201cscratch,\u201d this year\u2019s team is \u201cabove that now for sure.\u201d The Tar Heels, he said, established a solid foundation in spring practice.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou keep pushing the higher ground and when they reach that, then you raise the bar and go to a higher standard,\u201d Belichick said. \u201cThat\u2019s what training is, that\u2019s what progress is in anything. Once you reach a certain level and you\u2019re comfortable and you can execute that and you have a good foundation, then you build the next fllor and you keep building on that.\u201d<\/p>\n
North Carolina isn\u2019t the first team to change head coaches and roster turnover is a way of life in college football now. Wake Forest coach Jake Dickert, hired from Washington State after Belichick, led the Deacons to a 9-4 record in his first season, including a win over the Tar Heels.<\/p>\n
It was a humbling season in Chapel Hill, especially after an offseason of unprecedented hype, attention and ticket sales. Much of that outsized spotlight has dimmed this offseason.<\/p>\n
\u201cI learn every day,\u201d said Belichick, who turned 74 in April. \u201cI learn things every day. You\u2019re always evolving, and I want to try to do the best I can to help our team. Every day, every week is a learning experience for me. I try to listen to the people around me that work for us that do various things, whether it\u2019s academics, training, nutrition, offense, defense, special teams, so forth. Try to do the best I can to help put it all together \u2014 recruiting, fundraising, you name it. There are a lot of different things and I can improve in all of them.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
New offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino is tasked with retooling one of the ACC\u2019s worst offenses from 2025 with a new-look quarterback room. Starter Gio Lopez, backup Max Johnson and touted recruit Bryce Baker transferred from the program.<\/p>\n
The team\u2019s top four quarterbacks were all in the program for spring practice. Transfers Billy Edwards Jr. and Miles O\u2019Neill, returner Au\u2019Tori Newkirk and freshman Travis Burgess are all healthy, Belichick said.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no leaders in the clubhouse,\u201d Belichick said. \u201cEverybody\u2019s out on the course.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"CHARLOTTE \u2014 After a difficult first season in college football, North Carolina coach Bill Belichick is confident that…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":941537,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[39],"tags":[1357,378831,4442,1232,62,51399,67,132,68],"class_list":["post-941536","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nfl","tag-acc-football","tag-acc-kickoff","tag-bill-belichick","tag-nfl","tag-sports","tag-unc-sports","tag-united-states","tag-unitedstates","tag-us"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116936517143121320","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941536","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=941536"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/941536\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/941537"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=941536"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=941536"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=941536"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}