The University of North Carolina’s football program has struggled, as they currently hold a losing record under head coach Bill Belichick. Amid the losses, UNC general manager Michael Lombardi has resigned after being placed on administrative leave pending an internal investigation. And recently, the current defensive coordinator Steve Belichick is also under investigation on suspicion of drug use while on the job. ESPN analyst Kevin Clark gives his take on the UNC saga as the team is only one game into their 2026 season.
On the latest episode of First Take, Clark was asked, “Should UNC already regret hiring Bill Belichick?” to which he gave a brazen response, ripping Belichick and the organization as a whole for their incompetence.
“Yeah, yes, and part of it, there’s so much that goes into it; part of it is that the ceiling is eight wins, nine wins for Bill Belichick in college football. They simply don’t have the resources; they don’t want to put the resources towards building a playoff team. And I think that there was maybe an expectation that this was going to be old college football, and that Belichick could go into a living room and say ‘look at my Super Bowl rings’ and get five stars. That is no longer the case, if it ever was the case,” Clark said.
“This is UNC football; it’s always going to be on the back burner. So what this has done, this era in the last two years, has brought embarrassment to the university; the Michael Lombardi saga has brought more embarrassment to it, and now we have the Steve Belichick investigation; it’s not gonna work from a football perspective and hasn’t worked from an on-field perspective… Yes, they should regret hiring Bill Belichick, and yes, I think it will end sooner rather than later.”
As the 1-0 Tar Heels try to look past the off-field turmoil, their next matchup will be a home opener against the East Tennessee State Buccaneers on August 12th.
About Barry Hunter