We're not far away from Bill Belichick’s head coaching debut at North Carolina.
So many questions, so little time.
The Tar Heels host TCU on Monday, Sep. 1, under the lights, as the 73-year-old coach, with 333 NFL victories and six Lombardi Trophies, aims to elevate a Carolina roster that’s essentially brand new.
Belichick’s team has 70 new players, including 40 or so from the transfer portal.
UNC won six games last season, and its 2025 win total is set at [O/U] 7.5. Expectations might be naturally unfair given Belichick’s résumé, but Indiana’s run to last year’s College Football Playoff has Chapel Hillians excited.
Remember, the Hoosiers went from 3-9 to 11-1 in one swoop.
"It’s very difficult to do what [Curt] Cignetti did at Indiana," legendary Las Vegas oddsmaker Kenny White told me. "It’s almost impossible to change everything that quickly in one year and have that much success."
White focuses on his power ratings, a system he learned from his father Pete around the fifth grade. A "100" rating is an average team. He creates his point spreads by subtracting the lower team's score from the higher team's score.
So, if a 107-point team is facing a 101-point team on a neutral field, the line is -6.
"I ended last season with North Carolina at a 109," White said. "I’ll start in the low 100s this year and pay close attention to the talent level over the first couple of weeks. If the potential is there, Belichick should improve that team from week to week faster than any coach in the ACC aside from Dabo.
"I try not to downgrade teams too much in the first couple games unless it’s blatantly obvious something is very wrong," he continued. "But if a team plays really well the first two weeks, I’ve gotta be quicker to move
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