In Week 0 of the College Football season, North Carolina beat TCU in a 15-10 win in Dublin, Ireland. It was a much better way to begin the season than what happened last year against TCU.
In Bill Belichick's first game as the UNC head coach, they lost 48-14 to TCU to kick off a rough 4-8 season in his first season as head coach. But year two was very different, as they won a low-scoring game, to being the year with a much-needed win.
After the game, ESPN's Chuck Culpepper shared that TCU coach Sonny Dykes had high praise for Belichick's Tar Heels. Dykes said that UNC had "improved." This is a great way to begin the year. Not only did they win, but they got some praise from the opposing coach.
"They've improved," Dykes said of UNC's roster following the 15-10 win for the Tar Heels in Week 0 over TCU in Ireland.
This is about as good a comment as the Tar Heels could've received from the TCU head coach after this Week 0 matchup.
Dykes' Horned Frogs demolished the Tar Heels last season 48-14, and it was looking like the season would be a major disappointment right from the beginning.
That is what ended up happening, as UNC went 4-8 that year. But this season, North Carolina won their first game of the season in this TCU matchup, and it was a completely different story than what the 2025 outcome was.
Getting this high praise from Dykes is a major positive sign for the Tar Heels, as this is all they could've asked for from their opening game of the 2026 season.
There are obviously some questions this team will need to answer as the 2026 season rolls along, but at least for one week, Tar Heels fans can feel good about their team.
North Carolina's next test comes against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers on September 12, and then the Clemson Tigers on September 19 and Notre Dame on October 3.
The games against Clemson and Notre Dame, especially, will be more challenging than this TCU game, and those might be losses. But if nothing else, there is a lot more optimism with Belichick's Tar Heels in 2026 than there was last year.
