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There's no denying how disappointing year one of the Bill Belichick era ended, particularly given the 2025 offseason hype.
The UNC football program hired Belichick, an 8-time Super Bowl Champion and the NFL's GOAT coach, in hopes of turning itself into a consistent winner. Instead, what resulted last fall was a 4-8 campaign that questioned Belichick's ability to coach at a high level.
Chapel Bill has his work cut out for him ahead of North Carolina's 2026 campaign, which starts on Saturday, August 29 at 12 p.m. vs. TCU in Ireland. The Tar Heels reinforced their roster with a highly-ranked recruiting class, creating some belief amongst their fan base.
Despite what many might consider a much-improved offseason, Westwood One radio host Josh Graham has a bleak outlook for UNC again this fall.
“We’ve seen enough from the Bill Belichick experiment at North Carolina," Graham said. "It’s failed and the results are not going to be much better in Year Two than they were in Year One, at least not good enough to justify his $10 million-a year salary. You can’t overstate how badly Year One went. "Now those guys that you brought in a year ago, they’re going into a second year and you’re going to build upon that new group that you brought in a year ago, right? Wrong. 61 newcomers this year. Why in the h*** does North Carolina have a 41-player high school class? In addition to 20 transfers? 41 high school players? This reeks of a guy who doesn’t understand what wins in college football."
The Tar Heels' 2026 schedule looks extremely tough on paper, featuring matchups vs. the Horned Frogs, Clemson (September 19), Notre Dame (October 3) and Miami (FL) (October 31).
If UNC can pull off a couple of upsets and reach bowl eligibility again this fall, though, the energy in Chapel Hill changes drastically.
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This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: Prominent radio host has bleak outlook for UNC football in 2026
