Bill Belicheck experienced the ultimate ‘welcome to college football’ moment, beginning his collegiate career with his biggest ever defeat as a head coach, going down 48-14 at home to TCU.

His previous largest margin of defeat was a 38-3 loss to the Dallas Cowboys in 2023, but the six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach found that life at North Carolina would not be as straightforward as taking charge of a dynastic New England Patriots team.

Chapel Hill was geared up to celebrate what they hoped would be a winning start to an illustrious tenure for Belichick with the Tar Heels, with the build-up to the game feeling like a showbiz event. A concert headlined by country music star, and UNC alumnus, Chase Rice preceded the game, while the stands of Kenan Stadium were studded with stars, including Michael Jordan, Lawrence Taylor and Mia Hamm, waiting to witness the beginning of a new era for UNC.

And, in fairness, that era did begin brightly. Belichick is known for his meticulous preparation and whatever work he had put in over the offseason appeared to have paid off. Quarterback Gio Lopez, a transfer from South Alabama, looked calm and composed as his first pass as a Tar Heel led to a 39-yard sideline grab by Jordan Shipp. However, the 83-yard opening drive put UNC ahead for the only time in the game.

Following that opening drive, Josh Hoover and the Horned Frogs put up 41 unanswered points as neither UNC’s offense nor defense could get it going. Lopez’s bright start ended with a total of 69 yards and a 1.9 QBR as he was replaced after suffering a lower back injury during a sack-fumble. Graduate QB Max Johnson, who returned to the line-up after suffering a season-ending injury in the first game of the 2024 season against Minnesota, entered in relief but it was far too late for a fairytale comeback. Johnson, however, did provide an initial spark and led a scoring drive that culminated in a TD pass to his brother Jake.

Speaking after the game, Belichick addressed the media with his usual stoic demeanour.

“We’re better than what we were tonight, but we have to go out there and show that and prove it,” he said. “Nobody’s going to do it for us. We’re going to have to do it ourselves, and that’s what we’re going to do.”

Belichick’s words have echoes of the ‘do your job’ mantra that defined the expectations of his players in New England. However, he may need to take some time getting used to the fact that these are not professionals, but student athletes. But that doesn’t mean he wont hold his players accountable as he highlighted the mistakes in the presser.

“Too many three-and-outs, too many long plays on defense, two turnovers for touchdowns…,” he listed. “You can’t overcome that. We just can’t perform well doing some of the things we did. We’ve got to be better than that. We had too many self-inflicted wounds [which] we have to eliminate before we can even worry about addressing our opponent.”

Belichick was more non-committal on his QB situation after Lopez’s exit.

“We’ll see how Gio is,” he insisted. “Max came in after being off for a long time and hung in there and made some plays in a tough situation. We’ll take a look at it and see where things are at and go from there. It’s too early to tell now.”

Whoever is under centre in Week 2, Belichick will be hoping for a get right game against American Conference opposition as he puts the opening loss in the rear-view mirror. Now it’s ‘on to Charlotte’.