The North Carolina Tar Heels and first-year head coach Bill Belichick headed into their season opener against the TCU Horned Frogs on Monday night with high expectations. After the game started off strong, scoring the first touchdown of the game, everything went downhill.

When all was said and done, North Carolina was embarrassed by a final score of 48-14.

There were not many good things take away from the loss. Belichick's squad was completely dominated on both sides of the football.

Offensively, the Tar Heels turned the football over three times, with those of those turnovers being scores for the defense. Defensively, North Carolina had no answer for TCU, giving up 258 yards through the air and 284 yards on the ground.

Following the crushing defeat, Belichick spoke out with a strong message about his team. He believes the Tar Heels are a much more talented football team than what they put on display in the first game of the year.

“You know, we need to do a better job all the way around — coaching, playing, all three phases of the game, just wasn’t up to what it needs to be,” Belichick said. 

“I know we’re lot better than that. So we’ll need to work on those things and show it on Saturday . . . , but give TCU credit, they came in and did a good job, and they were clearly the better team tonight. They deserved to win, and they did it decisively.”

Belichick better hope that he's right. If the rest of the season goes as Week 1 did, North Carolina is going to have a lot to think about at the end of the year.

All offseason long, there has been a lot of buzz about Belichick turning the Tar Heels' football program around. He is one of the most respected football coaches of all-time, but that resume did not show up from his players on the field against the Horned Frogs.

Hopefully, North Carolina is able to come out with a much stronger performance next week. The Tar Heels will hit the road to take on Charlotte in their second game of the 2025 season.

While it's just one week, Belichick is facing a lot of pressure. North Carolina better look like a completely different team next week.