During his 30-year-long career as an NFL head coach, Bill Belichick won nearly 67 percent of his games, including 70.5 percent of his Playoff games, which led to six Super Bowl rings.
Now, Belichick is in charge of a different program: the North Carolina Tar Heels. The biggest question? Can the new UNC head coach translate his success at the professional level to the collegiate one?
Other head coaches don't think so.
In the 2025 US LBM Preseason Coaches Poll (done by USA Today), Belichick and the Tar Heels received zero (yes, 0) votes. Even over the last five years, the team managed to get a vote or two tossed their way, but not in 2025.
In fact, this was the first time since 2019 that North Carolina received absolutely no votes in the preseason poll.
UNC Tar Heels tossed aside for other ACC programs
Rubbing salt in the wound, three other ACC programs made it into the Top 25, with five others receiving at least a handful of points apiece.
The Clemson Tigers rang in at No. 6 in the poll, followed by the Miami Hurricanes at No. 10, and the SMU Mustangs at No. 16. Then, Louisville had 126 points, Georgia Tech got 27 points, Syracuse earned 16, Duke received 12, and Florida State was afforded eight.
The Tar Heels? Zero. Zero votes. Zero Points. None, nothing, nada.
Sure, last year North Carolina finished with a 6-7 overall record, including a loss to the UConn Huskies, of all teams, in the Wasabi Fenway Bowl. But the Tar Heels are now coached by Bill-freaking-Belichick. It quite literally can't get much better than that when it comes to head coaches.
The 2025 US LBM Preseason Coaches Poll
- Texas Longhorns, 1606 points
- Ohio State Buckeyes, 1565 points
- Penn State Nittany Lions, 1525 points
- Georgia Bulldogs, 1466 points
- Notre Dame Fighting Irish, 1466 points
- Clemson Tigers, 1360 points
- Oregon Ducks, 1307 points
- Alabama Crimson Tide, 1210 points
- LSU Tigers, 1056 points
- Miami Hurricanes, 823 points
Sure, the top 10 might make sense, and even the rest of the top 25 could be defendable. However, the lack of respect for Belichick and his program is deplorable, and the Tar Heels have the perfect opportunity to show everyone just how wrong they were.