Bill Belichick’s stint at North Carolina has not gone according to plan, as Year 1 featured ton of chaos and losses.
However, North Carolina pulled off a 15-10 upset of TCU in Dublin in Week 0 to silence his doubters. One year after the Horned Frogs embarrassed UNC 48-14 in Belichick’s college debut, the Tar Heels flipped the script and got revenge. Now, former NFL scout John Middlekauff is praising Belichick for thriving amidst UNC’s chaos.
John Middlekauff Praises Bill Belichick’s Ability To Ignore Chaos
“Everyone thought they were going to get their [expletive] kicked,” Middlekauff said on his “3 & Out” podcast before pointing to what he considers one of Belichick’s defining traits.
“He’s so unfazed by chaos,” Middlekauff said. “You do got to give Belichick some credit, though, when everybody, and I mean everybody, universally thought he was going to get fired in mid-season.”
Middlekauff has seen that quality before. He referenced the New England Patriots’ 2007 Spygate season, when Belichick’s team went 16-0 in the regular season despite the scandal dominating the early part of the year. To Middlekauff, the pattern is less about eliminating distractions than operating normally while they pile up.
“He’s so UNFAZED by chaos. Everyone UNIVERSALLY thought he was going to get fired midseason.”@JohnMiddlekauff explains why Bill Belichick’s ability to stay composed is a major reason for North Carolina’s 15-10 upset over TCU in Ireland. pic.twitter.com/6xvGd3fWZb
— 3 & OUT with John Middlekauff (@3andout_pod) August 31, 2026
To Middlekauff’s point, Belichick entered Year 2 under serious pressure after North Carolina went 4-8 in 2025. PFN highlighted a preseason resignation prediction that had Belichick leaving in November if the Tar Heels fell to 2-7, while ESPN’s Heather Dinich discussed the possibility that he could retire.
However, with North Carolina winning the opener against TCU, that noise has quieted down. UNC won thanks in large part to their defense, with Belichick handling the defensive playcalls since his son, Steve, is currently on medical leave.
TCU went ahead 10-3 with four minutes left in the first quarter and did not score again. UNC forced three turnovers on downs, recovered a fumble, and held the Horned Frogs scoreless for the final 49 minutes. The Tar Heels’ 2026 Defense Impact Score now sits at 89.1, which ranked second-best among the teams that played in Week 0.
“And definitely in this game, didn’t think he had a snowball’s chance in hell,” Middlekauff said in the clip. “And he went over there and kind of dictated the terms of the game. Got to give a guy a little credit.”
That credit comes with obvious limits after one game. North Carolina’s offense produced only 15 points, and the 4-8 season that created the pressure around Belichick did not disappear in Ireland.
Still, the contrast with last September is difficult to miss. TCU once turned Belichick’s college debut into a 34-point humiliation. Twelve months later, UNC kept the same opponent off the scoreboard for nearly three quarters and left Dublin 1-0.
For Middlekauff, it served as the latest evidence that chaos has rarely altered Belichick’s pulse.
