The 2025 college football season is quickly approaching, and anticipation for UNC football under new head coach Bill Belichick couldn’t be higher. The Tar Heels over/under win total for this year is currently listed at 7.5 games (over +140; under -165 per DraftKings) indicating oddsmakers are unconfident in this team making a big splash in year 1 under a new regime. ESPN FPI also has the Tar Heels projected to have 6.7 wins this season.


Schedule outlook


Carolina starts the season against 4 out of conference opponents in TCU, UNC Charlotte, Richmond, and UCF. Their first game against TCU will be played at home, where Carolina is a slight underdog receiving 2.5 points. This will certainly be a great benchmark game, as TCU is an established power 4 program, and have had a lot of success under head coach Sonny Dykes. The following 2 weeks should be games where Carolina takes care of business, and works out any issues they may see from the week 1 game. The final out of conference game of the regular season will be at UCF (projected to have 7.2 wins per ESPN FPI), which doesn’t currently have a line set, but this is certainly a 50/50 match up, and will be the first true road test for UNC. Once October comes around, conference play will begin for the Tar Heels, and their schedule stacks up somewhat favorable for them, outside of the first conference matchup against Clemson. Cal will be a tough game on 10/17 because it will be played in Berkeley, California, but after this the rest of their games will be on the east coast. All of the remaining opponents on Carolina’s schedule are projected to have fewer wins than them, with UVA’s over under set at 6.6, Syracuse at 4.6, Stanford at 4.7, Wake Forest at 4.7, Duke at 6.3, and NC State at 6.2 (All according to ESPN FPI). Obviously rivalry games can be difficult to judge, and NC State has won the last 4 games between the 2 programs, so it should be a fun game to close out the regular season.

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Coaching and Roster


Everyone knows Bill Belichick from his days as the head coach for the New England Patriots, but this will be his first time coaching at the college level. As a defensive minded coach, I have no doubt the defense will have a chip on their shoulder that we haven’t seen from many of the recent UNC teams under Mack Brown. The defense will also feature new names at 8 of the 11 positions on the field based on the current depth chart, with the only familiar faces being CB Marcus Allen, FS Will Hardy, and NB Kaleb Cost. The big roster changes especially on defense show that Belichick is really trying to shape the group into how he sees fit. Offensively the Tar Heels will be featuring dual threat quarterback Gio Lopez (transfer from South Alabama), who recorded 2,559 yards passing, 463 rush yards and 25 combined touchdowns last season. If Lopez’s skill set can transfer to the power 4 level and he is able to stay healthy, the Tar Heels should have no issues covering the 7.5 games.
Bill Belichick isn’t the only new name on the coaching staff, another notable acquisition for Carolina is Belichick’s son Steve Belichick, who will be the new defensive coordinator. Steve was the defensive coordinator for the Washington Huskies last season, and looks to bring his knowledge and focused demeanor to a new locker room. Freddie Kitchens, who served as the interim head coach for Carolina in their bowl game last season when UNC did renew Mack Brown’s contract, will serve as the teams new offensive coordinator. Kitchen’s experience in both the NFL and College Football will prove vital to the success of this Carolina team, as they will need to present a dynamic offense to be effective in today’s college football.

Final Thoughts


As exciting the upcoming UNC football season may be, there are also a ton of uncertainties, with what essentially is a completely revamped program. The UNC athletic department obviously wants to see major changes to their football program, hence why they poured an extensive amount of capital into the program, and made the personnel changes they did. It will certainly be a different Carolina football team, and it will be intriguing to see how things pan out