One year ago this week was one of the most surreal days in North Carolina sports history.

It was Bill Belichick's introductory press conference with the Tar Heels. Every local TV station broke into its live programming — as did ESPN, NFL Network and FS1 — in order to broadcast the event in real time. 

In that moment, nobody could have imagined how sour Year 1 of the experiment would end up in a 4-8 season. A year removed from that presser, it's become just as difficult to be optimistic that the results will look better in 2026.

In fact, Belichick might be repeating some of the same mistakes again. For example, a notable flaw in this year's team was the lack of continuity that is understandable with 70 newcomers on the roster.

Given the massive overhaul, it might have surprised you to learn that UNC signed a 39-player, high-school class last week. Since none of the 39 are five-star, blue-chippers, it wouldn't be realistic to expect any of them to have a significant impact on next year's team as true freshmen, which is not the approach you would expect from a coach that will be turning 74 years old in the spring.

While Belichick did dismiss offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens and special teams coach Mark Priefer on Friday morning, Michael Lombardi — who is the highest-paid general manager in the country — and his son Matthew, the quarterbacks coach, were still retained.

But perhaps the most concerning thing of all is UNC's 2026 schedule.

The Tar Heels will face Clemson and TCU again, but rather than getting them in Chapel Hill, they will travel to Death Valley and Ireland respectively next year. In terms of new opponents, UNC is slated to meet Miami and Notre Dame and Louisville.

So here's to Belichick's one-year anniversary in college football and to hoping Year 2 looks a lot different than the last 12 months. Because as of right now, it sure seems as if some of the same mistakes are being repeated again.