Bill Belichick and the North Carolina Tar Heels have been a tough review following the closure of the transfer portal.
The North Carolina Tar Heels entered the offseason knowing significant changes needed to be made following Bill Belichick's miserable debut campaign, but so far, there has been disappointment in Chapel Hill.
The transfer portal window has now closed, and while teams can still make additions, players can no longer enter. Most of the best players have found new homes, and North Carolina has kind of been left out in the cold.
Yes, the Tar Heels certainly brought in some intriguing talents, but, for the most part, UNC's transfer portal haul was underwhelming, so much so that On 3 has placed Belichick's squad 63rd in its transfer portal rankings.
What's more, North Carolina ranks just 15th in the ACC, ahead of only Pittsburgh and North Carolina State.
The Tar Heels landed 15 transfers and lost 29 players to the portal this winter. They failed to bring in a single four-star prospect but instead lost two of them in linebackers Khmori House and Mikai Gbayor.
North Carolina Tar Heels coach Bill Belichick. Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images.Clearly, UNC is not yet a top destination for the very premier players. Maybe it will get there at some point as Belichick gets deeper into his coaching tenure with the school, but for right now, it's obvious that North Carolina isn't there yet.
On the bright side, though, Belichick has put together a top-20 recruiting class for 2026, so perhaps he has more pull on the recruiting trail than he does in the portal.
The ACC is also a very winnable conference, with the Miami Hurricanes truly being the only team to worry about. That's especially with the Duke Blue Devils — who won the ACC championship this year — now losing quarterback Darian Mensah.
North Carolina has always been known for its basketball program, but Belichick is hoping to make the product on the gridiron considerably better moving forward.
That certainly wasn't the case in 2025, as the Tar Heels went just 4-8 and suffered a handful of blowout losses. Belichick also received negative attention for barring New England Patriots scouts from UNC's facility and for banning Drake Maye content on North Carolina's social media accounts.
Hopefully, things go much more smoothly for Belichick next season.