Yet another story of a poll not being able to gain trust. We have seen how Kenny Dillingham is chilled out, not making the top in the US LBM Coaches Poll preseason Top 25 ranking. As per the reports, the Arizona State Sun Devils are placed at No.11 in the entire country. And Dillingham’s reaction?
From Camp Tontozona, he shared, “Polls are always accurate, so we should really lean into it.” The grin on his face said it all. He was actually being sarcastic. Here enters Bill Belichick. The 8x Super Bowl winner who decided to try his luck in college football. Maybe Belichick is yet to gain the trust of analysts, and he got snubbed in the coach’s poll. But not to worry, the Tar Heels are picked up by David Pollack, projecting that they are going to be above average in 2025.
On the July 6th episode of the See Ball Get Ball with David Pollack podcast, the host, came up with his list of ‘Who’s about to over-achieve in 2025?’ That’s when he counted on Belichick’s Tar Heels. The reason? Pollack shared, “There is not any better schedule in all of college football than North Carolina. Do you have it pulled up? Because it is freakingly unbelievable.” Armed with eight Super Bowls, Belichick’s UNC will have one of the easiest schedules in the ACC in 2025. The head coach has already come up with flying colors, making the most use of the transfer portal. The Tar Heels have been ranked the No.8 ranked transfer portal class.
NCAA, College League, USA Football: North Carolina-Bill Belichick press conference, PK, Pressekonferenz Dec 12, 2024 Chapel Hill, NC, USA North Carolina Tar Heels new head coach Bill Belichick speaks to the media at Loudermilk Center for Excellence. Chapel Hill Loudermilk Center for Excellence NC USA, EDITORIAL USE ONLY PUBLICATIONxINxGERxSUIxAUTxONLY Copyright: xJimxDedmonx 20241212_jla_db2_109
The weapons are ready, and the universe has conspired things in their favor. The Tar Heels’ schedule will give Belichick time to get everyone moving in the same direction. They are lucky enough to be playing the first four games against non-conference opponents. As Pollack noted, “TCU is the second-toughest game on their schedule.” Belichick’s boys’ first opponent, the Horned Frogs, finished sixth in the Big 12 a year ago with a record of 9-4. Then, in Week 4, the Tar Heels will be facing off against UCF, which finished with an unimpressive 4-8 record last year. Wait, that’s not all about Belichick’s projected smooth debut drive.
Charlotte and Richmond make up the rest of the non-conference schedule, giving UNC a chance to start the year 4-0. Going by the schedule, North Carolina opens ACC play against Clemson on Oct. 4. Dabo Swinney’s program will be the toughest game that Belichick’s boys will face this season. We have often seen that programs take things for granted whenever they get blessed with a weak schedule.
Mario Cristobal’s Miami, for instance. They had Cam Ward to count on, plus an extremely easy schedule that made it look like a CFP berth would be a cakewalk in 2024. The end result? They wrapped up the 2024 season with a 10-3 overall record. But that option does not exist for the Tar Heels. Belichick is going to hold the reins tightly. As Pollack shared, “Enter the winningest coach of all time, you know good and well, Belichick has been the guy that is like ‘I will take away your strength, I’ll make you play left-handed, I’m gonna build a team on no mistakes. Don’t make mistakes, don’t sc- -w it up.’” But right now, it would take Belichick a lot of courage to stand firm on his ground.
Bill Belichick and Tar Heels snubbed in preseason poll
The preseason poll predicted that the Tar Heels would finish eighth among the 17 ACC teams. Not so great, not too bad, right? But something concerning followed up. On August 4, US LBM released their Coaches Poll and gifted North Carolina fans with a heartbreak. Reports say it’s the first time since the 2019 college football season that the program received zero votes in the preseason Coaches Poll.
Fans obviously held high expectations after getting rid of Mack Brown, following a 6-7 season. Not just this, Belichick’s program didn’t have a single player listed on the preseason All-ACC team for the first time in six years. Already, there have been too many things on Belichick’s plate. First things first, he had to manage without the key weapons, including linebacker Amare Campbell, defensive lineman Beau Atkinson, and offensive lineman Zach Rice, among others. Secondly, Belichick is yet to find the clarity on whom to hand the starter’s torch. Moving into the season, he will have to choose between senior Max Johnson, South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez, and highly touted four-star recruit Bryce Baker.
Amidst all this chaos, Belichick got to chase what his heart wants. On the Bloomberg Originals, the head coach shared, “I’ve always wanted to be in college football. I grew up in it at the Naval Academy, and I tried to go into college football after college, but that didn’t really work out. So I ended up with the Baltimore Colts and Coach [Ted] Marchibroda there. And then that path kind of led me through the NFL. And that’s worked out all right. But it was an opportunity to go to a great school, a great institution with a great brand. That, you know, hasn’t achieved what they wanna achieve on the football field. And so there’s a lot of newness, a lot of learning.” Now, we will have to wait and watch whether the easy schedule becomes a bane or boon in Belichick’s debut season.
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