The North Carolina Tar Heels let a win slip out of their grasp against the California Golden Bears on Friday night, as North Carolina wide receiver Nathan Leacock had the football punched out by a California defender just as he was about to cross the goal line for what would have been the go-ahead — and potentially game-winning — touchdown in the fourth quarter.

The Tar Heels fell to 2-4 with the loss, but at least it wasn't a humiliating blowout like their other three defeats. This time, UNC fell 21-18 in heartbreaking fashion.

But apparently, North Carolina coach Bill Belichick is in the business of preaching moral victories these days, and Stewart Mandel of The Athletic called it out in a recent piece.

"The UNC players who spoke to the media after the game seemed to fully embrace this being a moral victory," Mandel wrote. "They seemed unusually nonchalant and upbeat for having suffered a seemingly excruciating loss. But … perhaps that’s exactly what Belichick coached them to do. Because both the coach and one of his players used the same familiar phrase to describe the loss: 'It is what it is.'"

Of course, this does seem like an attempt to further pile on Belichick, who has been the butt of just about everyone's jokes throughout the entire season.

But based on the fact that Belichick is an eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach (six as a head coach, two as a defensive coordinator), it does seem rather strange that he would be perfectly fine with such a terrible loss.

Now, none of us know exactly what was said in the locker room. This is just guesswork on the part of Mandel. But the reaction of the players does seem a bit odd, and it's entirely possible that it does reflect what Belichick told them.

To be fair, this is Belichick's first foray into college coaching, so he may be handling his players at Chapel Hill very different from the way he dealt with his players in Foxborough. That's entirely understandable.

But who can resist the temptation to fire a shot at Belichick in 2025, right?

Things won't get any easier for the Tar Heels next week, as they will face the No. 16 Virginia Cavaliers, who are 6-1 thus far.