After what felt like forever, college football has finally returned, and Bill Belichick's North Carolina Tar Heels were already in action. Belichick's team participated in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic against TCU, but there was some confusion regarding UNC.
Specifically, the college football community was wondering what the heck happened to starting running back Demon June. The tailback led the team in rushing yards and ranked third in receiving, but he wasn't a part of the game plan on Saturday, and fans were already speculating.
June was a pivotal part of the Tar Heels last season, topping the team with 464 rushing yards and chipping in 159 more through the air. But in their season opener against TCU, June was mostly missing in action, as he wasn't involved for most of the game.
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Fans definitely took notice. Some even wondered if June had lost "his passport."
"Did Demon June lose his passport?" questioned one fan.
Others suggested that June may be in Belichick's doghouse, which seems accurate based on the running back's workload.
"Demon June doesn't get a first-quarter snap, gets a block in the back on his first play as a lead blocker," a fan wrote on X. "Belichick is going to have him holding a clipboard the rest of the day."
One commenter said that they would have blamed the play-caller for June's inactivity in the past. This time, they believe there could be something going on behind the scenes with North Carolina's star tailback.
"Demon June does not have a carry through a quarter. Last season, I blamed the play-caller. Maybe, just maybe, there is something I do not know, and I am about to quit calling for him to get carried," Ronnie McGill said.
Others just want to know the story. Is June hurt or just falling down the depth chart? It seems to be the latter.
"Did Demon June get passed up or is he banged up?" questioned one fan. "I really wish we got injury reports in non-conference play."
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It appears that June may have a new role on the team or has faced some sort of internal disciplinary action. Yet, others expected him to still play a key role in the backfield, as a rusher rather than as a blocker.
"Where is Demon June??? I thought he would've been part of the running game," added another user on X.
Others are just questioning Belichick for seemingly taking the ball out of one of his most talented players' hands: "So is Demon June hurt or ? If he's not wtf is Bill doing."
One commenter even suggested June to take action against Belichick, though his suggestion may be a bit short-sighted: "Go ahead and slap Bill in his face, Demon June, and transfer how you go from Rb1 too RB5/fullback 😂😂"
June, who ranked 126th on PFN's CFB RB Impact Metric last season, saw some action later in the game and finished with six carries for 25 yards as North Carolina registered a huge 15-10 win to start the season.
One fan summed up the running back's outing and wrote, "I know everyone is gonna say Bill Belichick and UNC are gambling by only letting Demon June play in the 4th/crunch time. But honestly, DJune is 20 years old, he probably got in trouble by BillyB and we know Bill doesn't play any childish (expletive), especially outta the country."
It's unclear if this will be June's new role, but it's obvious that fans don't necessarily agree with it. Who knows? Maybe Belichick sees something others don't? For now, June's role seems to have taken a drastic shift, and he may just have to accept it.
This article originally appeared on Pro Football Network .
