North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick is in one of the hottest seats in college football after a disappointing debut season in Chapel Hill. Belichick’s Tar Heels have dominated the offseason news cycle after various scandals involving general manager Michael Lombardi gripped the program.
However, former NFL quarterback Dan Orlovsky recently blasted fans and analysts for dumping on Belichick and the Tar Heels.
Dan Orlovsky Backs Bill Belichick to Succeed at UNC
During Thursday’s segment of the “Get Up” show, Orlovsky called for football fans to lay off Belichick and predicted that the former Patriots coach and offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino would change the Tar Heels’ fortunes this season.
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“Can everyone pump the brakes on trying to dunk on Coach Belichick?” Orlovsky asked. “We’re talking about one of the greatest football coaches of all time, and everybody that talks about Bobby Petrino raves about him as an offensive mind. We don’t think those two guys are gonna kinda make it a little bit better?
“The distractions, for the most part, this offseason, have been gone in comparison to last year at North Carolina.”
“Can everyone pump the brakes on trying to dunk on Coach Belichick?” – Dan Orlovsky pic.twitter.com/aFZ77lkqnK
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) August 27, 2026
Last season, the Tar Heels struggled on both sides of the ball, earning a PFN CFB Offense Impact score of 73.3 (No. 85 in the country) and a Defense Impact score of 76.8 (No. 58 in college football). Fans and analysts heavily criticized Belichick for the haphazard roster building in his debut college football season.
The Tar Heels had significant roster turnover, recruiting 18 and losing 32 players via the transfer portal. North Carolina boasts the No. 64 transfer portal class in the country.
Orlovsky further predicted that North Carolina would improve on both sides of the ball this season.
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“If we watch North Carolina for the most part last year, a lot of their major flaws were fundamental things,” Orlovsky stated. “Tackling, effort to the football, blocking through the whistle, like basic stuff.
“The greatest coach of all time, in part because of those things, I think he’s going to fix a lot of that stuff. I’m not telling everybody that this team is going to go to the College Football Playoff. I think we’re going to get a significantly improved, just fundamentally sound basic football team.”
The Tar Heels will kick off Belichick’s second college football season with a Week 0 clash against the TCU Horned Frogs in Dublin. The iconic coach will call the team’s defensive plays during the game because his son, Steve Belichick, is on indefinite medical leave.
