Controversy has followed Bill Belichick like a shadow all throughout his career. The Spygate controversy, and even his sour terms with GOAT Tom Brady during the end of his patriots run. After calling it quits with the NFL, Belichick wanted to try his hand at college football. But there too, his personal life and his relationship with Jordon Hudson caught a lot of side eyes. So much so, that it made Paul Finebaum come up with a sharp jab.

“Listen, I’m happy for them, but North Carolina hired him because he’s a great coach, not to be a distraction. He’s a major distraction right now in this game of football. I’m sorry,” said the ESPN analyst. So, the North Carolina fans might not be expecting much from Belichick. However, the reality is a lot different.  

As per the reports, there are no seats remaining at the North Carolina box office for Belichick’s debut season in Chapel Hill. On Wednesday, July 23, the school announced that all season and single-game football tickets are sold out at Kenan Stadium. And guess what? This has been the earliest point for Belichick’s program tickets to be sold out. On July 23, Pete Thamel tweeted, “North Carolina football has sold out its entire allotment of football tickets, per a source. Season tickets were sold out this spring. Individual tickets are now sold for Bill Belichick’s debut season.” While this news was still setting in, ESPN dived into the picture. On July 23, Front Office Sports tweeted, “ESPN networks are poised to show 8, if not 10, of Bill Belichick’s first games as North Carolina head coach, sources tell FOS.”

The tweet further revealed, “Can ESPN recreate the “Deion effect?” “We have to wait and see. The potential is there.”” Back in late January, ESPN  had already slotted Belichick’s North Carolina’s season-opening game against TCU for Monday, September 1 (Labor Day evening) at 7:30 PM ET on ESPN. A major prime-time spotlight for the debut.

Talking about the Bill Belichick craze? Well, in the 2024 season, North Carolina could not sell out season tickets when Mack Brown was at the head coaching seat. Now under Belichick, the Tar Heels sold out 20,000 season tickets this year, despite a 25% season ticket price. Now, doesn’t it reminds us of Deion Sanders? Bill even has some coaches challenging him for the year ahead.

Under Coach Prime, the Colorado Buffaloes witnessed a record $31.2 million in football ticket sales during the 2023-24 season. This is roughly double than the previous year. So naturally ESPN and FOX Sports took the responsibility to televise the Colorado games. In Belichick’s case, ESPN is already the ACC’s primary rights holder. Reports say, last season, ESPN did not air any Tar Heels game. 

Earlier, it was decided that they would telecast the primetime matchups to open the season on Labor Day against TCU. This would be followed by two midseason Friday night ACC matchups (Oct. 17 vs. Cal and Oct. 31 vs. Syracuse). While ESPN+ will exclusively stream The Hoodie’s first road game on Sept. 6 at Charlotte, ESPN-owned ACC Network will show UNC-Richmond on Sept. 13. That makes only five games. But they are now targeting eight. While Belichick might be soaking up all the hype, he faced a pushback from a CFB analyst.  

Josh Pate’s tough verdict for Belichick

Already, analysts are still in two minds about Belichick’s debut at Chapel Hill. He is yet to call a play in college football. This made analyst Bill Bender push the North Carolina head coach way down to the No.18 spot in his list of top 135 coaches moving into the 2025 season. The Tar Heels under Belichick will be facing off against TCU as their season opener. Now that’s enough of a wake-up call for the head coach. 

Yes, we know this may not be an opponent such as Alabama or Ohio State. But recently they have been on a great streak. Since 2000, the Horned Frogs have a 220-95 overall record, 13 10-win seasons, and 10 11-win seasons. These are topped with six AP Top 10 finishes, five CFP bowl games, and a national runner-up finish in 2022. Sonny Dykes and co. are now coming back with full energy after wrapping the 2024 season with a 9-4 record. Josh Pate is one of the analysts throwing caution to the winds.

On the Gramlich & Mac Lain podcast, Pate shared, “I don’t think it’s going to work. Okay. I don’t have very high expectations for it.” Yes, regardless of how many Super Bowl feathers Bill Belichick has on his hat, things are a lot different in college. The analyst further added, “What I’m picking up from people is that Belichick’s the guy that can contend for a playoff spot in North Carolina. Well, I don’t think he can.” North Carolina fans by now have forgotten what an ACC title tastes like. The last time they became conference champions was back in 1980.  So, Belichick is now carrying a burden of a 45-year-old drought. Will he be able to quench the thirst?