SEC analyst reveals expectations for Bill Belichick, UNC football in 2025
All eyes will be on the North Carolina Tar Heels in the 2025 college football season, thanks to their offseason hiring of 8-time Super Bowl Champion Bill Belichick as head coach.
UNC, desperately hoping to turn itself into a consistent winning program, fired Mack Brown at the end of its 2024 season. North Carolina was linked to names like Matt Campbell and Jon Sumrall, but ultimately made a shocking hire for the first-time college coach.
If anticipation and excitement alone decided a team's success, the Tar Heels would win the 2026 CFP National Championship. Expectations are mixed for UNC this fall, though.
Friday morning on ESPN's popular "Get Up" show, famed journalist Paul Finebaum said his 2025 expectations for North Carolina are "very low."
'They are very low," Finebaum said. "He doesn't have a very good team, although he's in a workable league. I think he can win seven games, maybe steal one to go eight. But ladies and gentleman, this is not Deion Sanders coming back to college for a couple of obvious reasons. Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter. He doesn't have anyone like that, therefore the eyes of the nation will be there on opening night, maybe a second or third time. But it's not going to be must-see TV. As far as Bill Belichick, the end of his (NFL) career was a disaster. He didn't win a playoff games in his last five seasons. He had losing seasons three out of his last five. He was a mess at the end, he should've been fired earlier than he was. This is just trying to make good, he's trying to impress his girlfriend, he's trying to make some money and ultimately, I don't think it's going to work.'
The Tar Heels shouldn't pay much attention to what an SEC guy has to say about them. Finebaum has a good point, in that UNC doesn't have a Sanders or Hunter, but there's plenty of talent between returners and the transfer portal.
TCU will be a great test for North Carolina in Week 1. The Tar Heels also get Clemson, UCF, Duke and NC State, so wins may be tough to come by. Luckily, UNC has a head coach who knows how to win boatloads of games.
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions.
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