Bill Belichick Takes Strict Action As Final Decision on $2.3M Coach Announced

Bill Belichick’s first season as the North Carolina head coach did not go as he had planned. The Tar Heels ended the 2025 season with a 4-8 record and failed to qualify for a bowl game.

UNC also wrapped up the season ranked No. 82 in the PFSN College Football Playoff Meter and has since made several coaching changes aimed at a strong rebound next season.

Bill Belichick Initiates Coaching Shakeup After Lackluster 2025 Season

Freddie Kitchens will not be back as North Carolina’s offensive coordinator in 2026 after the Tar Heels fired him on Friday. The decision came even though he was in the middle of a two-year, $2.3 million contract covering this season and next, valued at $1.15 million in 2025 and $1.2 million in 2026. UNC will honor the buyout provisions in the deal and pay him the remaining salary.

Kitchens previously served as UNC’s tight ends coach and run game coordinator in 2023. Following Mack Brown’s firing, he took over as interim head coach in 2024 and was retained by Belichick for this season.

While the Tar Heels averaged nearly 31 points per game during a 6-7 season in 2024, the offense regressed sharply this year. UNC finished 129th out of 136 FBS teams, scoring just 19 points per game as quarterbacks Gio Lopez, Max Johnson, and Au’Tori Newkirk combined for only 13 touchdown passes.

Before joining UNC, Kitchens spent a season as an analyst at South Carolina and previously held several NFL coaching roles. His most notable stint came with the Cleveland Browns, where he coached running backs in 2018, became associate head coach, and later took over as interim offensive coordinator. He also served as the Browns’ head coach in 2019.

Belichick also fired special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, who was under a two-year contract as well. Priefer earned $400,000 this season and was set to make $425,000 in 2026. UNC will pay out the remainder of his contract at his 2025 salary rate.

Priefer’s firing followed a season in which the Tar Heels ranked in the lower half of the ACC in kickoff returns, punt returns, and kickoffs.

“We want to thank Coach Kitchens and Coach Priefer for their commitment and many contributions to our program and student-athletes,” Belichick said in a statement. “We wish them both nothing but the best in their future endeavors.”

Priefer originally joined Kitchens’ staff in Cleveland in 2019 and remained with the Browns for three seasons before being let go in 2023. The only coordinator UNC has chosen to retain is Belichick’s eldest son and defensive coordinator, Steve Belichick.