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Pete Thamel, Senior College Sports Insider
BOSTON — New UNC football coach Bill Belichick won’t be back in the state he’s called home for the past two decades, as school officials told ESPN he’s not expected to attend the Fenway Bowl on Saturday morning.
Belichick’s new program will close out the final chapter of its 2024 season, as the Tar Heels (6-6) will take on UConn (8-4) at Fenway Park on ESPN at 11 a.m. Even with Belichick not in attendance at the Fenway Bowl media day on Friday, his presence loomed.
“I think it’s been really exciting,” UNC athletic director Bubba Cunningham told ESPN. “People are excited about the future. We’ve talked about how college sports is really changing. The idea of having Bill and someone with his background in professional sports is something that we’re all excited about. This is where we’re headed, and it’s good to be an early adopter.”
UNC linebacker Amare Campbell said that Belichick has not been at UNC bowl practice. Cunningham said that has been in line with the same reason he won’t be at the bowl game — Belichick doesn’t want to be a distraction.
“He’s totally dialed into building the roster,” Cunningham said. “He didn’t want to go to practice or be a distraction to the kids or the coaches for the bowl game.”
He added: “It’s been great. He and Mike Lombardi have locked themselves in a room and really spent all the time since he’s been announced, building the roster for this spring and next year.”
Campbell entered the portal and then returned to UNC after getting pitched by Belichick. He had 72 tackles and 10.5 TFLs for UNC in 2024, and won the team’s defensive MVP honors. He had received interest from SMU, Colorado and Michigan, he said, but stayed because of the plan Belichick laid out for him in a phone conversation.
“I knew how he would develop me and we would compete at a high level,” Campbell said.
He added on the recruitment process: “You know how he is, he’s monotone. He kind of got that robot kind of voice. He was just like, ‘We’re going to compete, we’re going to get better. We’re going to work every day.’ And that’s been my mindset since I’ve been growing up. So that’s something I can really get behind and I trust him as a coach.”
With interim coach Freddie Kitchens, who will be part of Belichick’s staff, representing UNC on Friday, the coach and players presented a generally uniform message of “be where your feet are” to stay locked into the game. He said he speaks to Belichick every day, but he’ll have no input into the game.
UNC is looking to avoid its first losing season since 2021, and UConn is looking for the school’s first nine-win season since 2007. Even the Fiesta Bowl team in 2010 only won eight games.
Mora perhaps had the most insight into what Belichick is facing, as he was the head coach with the Falcons and Seahawks prior to taking the UCLA head job in 2012. He said Belichick’s biggest challenge will be dealing with a different age group, as college players need their coaches in different ways.
“If he just accesses the fatherly side of him, he’ll do great, and he’s got [his son] Steve coming [as defensive coordinator], and I think that building that family atmosphere,” Mora said. “Bill is a pro, and he’s incredibly bright and he’s going to adapt just fine. And football is football, he’s a master at that. I just have a feeling, I just have a feeling he’s going to fall in love with [college football] like I did.”