With 333 wins, 17 AFC East Titles and six Super Bowls as an NFL head coach, Bill Belichick is undoubtedly the greatest, professional football coach of all time.
With hopes of reaching the pinnacle of college football, UNC hired Belichick to be its next head coach in December 2024. It didn't matter that Belichick lacked collegiate experience, but moreso that he brought a much-needed winning pedigree to Chapel Hill.
That winning pedigree didn't matter in 2025, with North Carolina playing to a 4-8 record. In On3 Sports' rankings of all 17 ACC head coaches , ahead of the 2026 CFB season, Belichick ranks second-to-last.
"Chapel Bill," as you might hear Tar Heel Nation sometimes call their head football coach, is only ahead of Stanford's Tavita Pritchard and right behind Cal's Tosh Lupoi. Miami's Mario Cristobal leads this list, while James Franklin (Virginia Tech), Dabo Swinney ( Clemson ), Rhett Lashlee (SMU) and Jeff Brohm (Louisville) round out the Top Five.
All the 2025 offseason anticipation in Chapel Hill quickly dipped on Labor Day, when UNC hosted TCU in Kenan Stadium's biggest game since Mack Brown returned. The Horned Frogs smacked North Carolina, 48-14 , a shocking result after the Tar Heels ' hot start.
UNC rebounded to beat Charlotte and Richmond in consecutive September games, then broke its losing streak on Halloween at Syracuse. North Carolina escaped Stanford at home, but three straight losses ended any hope of bowl eligibility.
The Tar Heels start 2026 with a rematch against TCU , but this time across the pond in Ireland. Belichick added several big names in the transfer portal and high school recruiting, like quarterbacks Billy Edwards and Travis Burgess.
Can Belichick redeem himself this fall, get UNC back to playing a winning brand of football and further cement his legacy as the GOAT?
Follow us @TarHeelsWire on X and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of North Carolina Tar Heels news, notes and opinions
This article originally appeared on Tar Heels Wire: UNC Football: Bill Belichick ranked 16 amongst ACC coaches by On3
