TCU's Sonny Dykes quips on UNC opener: 'Bad scheduling' - ESPN

ORLANDO, Fla. — TCU coach Sonny Dykes says his staff has already begun culling game tape from the New England Patriots, University of Washington and schools across the country to prepare for their season opener against Bill Belichick and North Carolina.

If this has a bit of a déjà vu feeling for the Horned Frogs, that is because they also opened the 2023 season against a megastar football coach making his FBS coaching debut: Deion Sanders and Colorado.

Asked what TCU did to be put in nearly the same situation once again, Dykes told ESPN with a laugh, «Not sure how we pulled that off. It's called bad scheduling.»

«Hopefully we'll fare better than we did last time. We didn't play well last time, but we've got a second chance.»

In 2023, TCU was coming off a national championship game loss to Georgia and ranked No. 17 in the nation. But Colorado pulled the upset, 45-42, in Sanders' debut in a wild game that featured more than 1,000 yards of offense. Shedeur Sanders threw for a school-record 510 yards and four touchdowns.

The hype surrounding Belichick has been on a similar level. The six-time Super Bowl champion took the North Carolina job last December, his first head coaching stint in college after spending his entire career in the NFL. Belichick has not coached a game yet, but there is intrigue about how the Tar Heels will fare under his leadership, particularly since this is a program that has not won an ACC title since 1980.

But he has been active in completely transforming the roster, in a similar way to Sanders. North Carolina has brought in more than 50 new players from the transfer portal, including South Alabama quarterback Gio Lopez, and eight new offensive linemen — many with starting experience.

To begin to