Bill Belichick is scripting records in the wrong books in his first season in college football. The veteran coach’s entry has now become a nightmare after yet another loss. UNC lost its 4th straight game this season, as Virginia edged past 17-16. With that, the HC with 6x Super Bowl championships adds a disappointing stat to his ledger.

This has now become the 4th losing streak for Bill Belichick, who surely thought those days would be a thing of his NFL past. That first losing streak of 5 games came in his initial NFL years. Belichick closed out 1991 with 3 losses and followed it up with 2 more at the beginning of the 1992 season. It took him three more years to lose games in a streak. He logged his next in 1995, with 6 straight.

28 years later, this troubling stat reappeared in 2023, the iconic coach’s last season in the NFL. If he brings in 2 more losses, this UNC losing streak will outshine his NFL ones.

Bill Belichick could have prevented this stat from happening. North Carolina came very, very close to upping its stock big time by upsetting Virginia. In overtime, the Tar Heels chose to go for a 2-point conversion. Gio Lopez passed to Benjamin Hall in the nick of time, but the RB was sadly unable to get the ball over the goal line.

He was tackled right at the 1-yard line, which put only a few inches between Belichick and his first ACC victory. This was also a major rivalry game, and would’ve been enough for the coach to be hailed as a hero, even temporarily.

Bill Belichick’s future in college football now stands in a grim place. UNC still has to play Syracuse, Stanford, Wake Forest, Duke, and NC State. He will very likely have at least 2 more losses from here, which makes it difficult for him to make this season a winning one. Moreover, the Bill Belichick era has done little to uplift the off-the-field side of things of Carolina football. The program has a heap of problems plaguing its success, according to experts.

Yet another loss, that too with an opportunity that could’ve made UNC overnight stars, looks bad for the program. Unlike most struggling programs, the Tar Heels do not have the luxury of firing the flashiest hire in college football.

UNC can’t help but ride the season out with Bill Belichick as losses pile on

Bill Belichick’s disastrous first year earned him an automatic spot on the hot seat list. He has tried to clean things up since the California game, as the Tar Heels had been giving up more than 30 points before it, not once, but thrice in the season. However, a win as integral as Virginia’s eluding him is killing hope for the Belichick era to get to a cruising mode.

The logical option for UNC should be to do away with him before things roll over to the next season. But the program is also at a stalemate with Bill Belichick. According to his contract, they have to pay him roughly $30 million if the Tar Heels fire him after this season. The 3x AP NFL Coach of the Year is entitled to whatever he is owed until December 31st, 2027, if he is fired before that date.

Also, if Bill Belichick hauls in 2 more losses, UNC’s bowl game hopes will also end in vain. The Tar Heels need 6 wins to have a shot at the bare minimum of a postseason arc. Instead, they have 5 losses pushing back. How Belichick tries to get out of this situation will set the tone for his remaining stay at Chapel Hill.