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Bill Belichick’s inaugural season in college football didn’t go the way he and the North Carolina Tar Heels hoped, finishing 4-8 and 2-6 in ACC play in 2025.
Nevertheless, the championship pedigree remains in Chapel Hill because of who the head coach is. Belichick’s eight career Super Bowl wins, six as head coach of the New England Patriots, hold reverence, even if his first year with the Tar Heels was not what anyone expected.
However, Belichick’s mindset doesn’t think in terms of championship or bust, despite what his career record says.
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North Carolina Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick looks on prior to a game against the UCF Knights at FBC Mortgage Stadium in Orlando, Fla., on Sept. 20, 2025. (Julio Aguilar/Getty Images)
Ahead of his second season with UNC, Belichick, speaking on “Hang Out with Sean Hannity,” explained how he’s approaching a hopeful 2026 bounce-back campaign.
“Our goals are much more short-term than that, just like our goals in the NFL were,” he told Hannity. “We never talked about the Super Bowl this year or last year. Whatever’s done is done, and until we got to the game, it wasn’t really relevant. There were too many steps that had to be taken in between. It’s the same for me in North Carolina.
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“Right now, our goal is to get ready for training camp in August, and what do we need to do between now and then with coaching and player preparation, coaching strategy. Based on what we know about our team, how things we want to change, what we did in the spring, etc. How do we have a good week, and then if we have a good week, what can we do to improve it next week to improve the next week?”
Belichick admitted that the team’s “long-term goal” is obviously to compete well enough to get into the College Football Playoff and play for a national title one day.
North Carolina football head Bill Belichick and General Manager Michael Lombardi watch from the sidelines during the game against Texas Christian University at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill, NC on September 1, 2025. (Erick W. Rasco/Sports Illustrated via Getty Images)
“But it’s so far in the distance,” he added. “What’s more important is taking advantage of today, tomorrow and this week. That’s really our goal – how do we maximize these few days?
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“If we don’t take care of the daily steps, we won’t accomplish much.”
Belichick was known for his “no days off” mantra with the Patriots, but it’s similar here in the sense that he’s focused on how to get better every day instead of looking too far ahead.
Bill Belichick watches the Miami Hurricanes play the Indiana Hoosiers during the first half of the College Football Playoff National Championship game at Hard Rock Stadium on January 19, 2026. (Kirby Lee/Imagn Images)
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After their disappointing season, Belichick and his staff at UNC also took advantage of the transfer portal bolstering key positions, edge rusher and tight end in particular, to give them a better chance to improve.
