Bill Belichick faces a brutal gauntlet against Clemson, Notre Dame, and Pittsburgh. This high-stakes stretch will determine if the Tar Heels are contenders or destined for disappointment.
North Carolina didn't have much of a roster last season, and the program paid for it, going 4-8 under Bill Belichick in his first year as head coach.
Lessons were learned all around, and Belichick strengthened his recruiting efforts for the upcoming season, though it's unclear if he did enough to make UNC a contender in the ACC.
The Tar Heels’ first goal should be to make a bowl game this season, while showing future recruits and transfers that Belichick is on the rise.
North Carolina will need its roster to play super well early. By the time UNC plays Duke on Oct. 17, the Tar Heels could be a Top 25 team or seriously in trouble.
UNC has one of the tougher three-game stretches in the ACC. It will travel to play Clemson on Sept. 19 before hosting Notre Dame on Oct. 3 after a bye week. The Tar Heels will then travel to play Pittsburgh on Oct. 10.
Brad Crawford of CBS Sports ranked UNC as having the No. 15 toughest schedule stretches for that stretch. Crawford thinks Clemson's defensive front could dominate UNC early.
Crawford thinks UNC will have to play near perfect to beat Notre Dame and Pittsburgh.
"Notre Dame's appearance in Chapel Hill will be an instant sellout, but that's not making the matchup any easier on the home team," he wrote. "Notre Dame is a preseason top 5 for a reason, a program that brings elite defensive structure and enough offensive balance to expose any weakness in tackling or pass protection. This is a matchup that demands near-perfect execution for the Tar Heels.
"The road trip to Pittsburgh has quietly produced plenty of ACC chaos over the years. The Panthers' physical style and defensive toughness turn games into grind-it-out affairs where discipline and depth matter more than flash. Three games over a four-week stretch that offer three distinct identities and no soft landing."
North Carolina will start the season at TCU and then host East Tennessee State. TCU feels like a must-win, because the Tar Heels could be staring at a 1-4 record before taking on Duke if they can't beat the Horned Frogs.
UNC could play spoiler against Clemson, Notre Dame, or Pittsburgh, but they'd have to show some fight that wasn't seen during a lame 2025 season.
