The Bill Belichick era at North Carolina has been nothing short of a circus so far, and that's before he's even coached a single game. Circuses (circusei?) are high entertainment, and ESPN is planning to profit on the ongoing Chapel Hill brouhaha.
According to Sports Illustrated's Bryan Fischer, ESPN is planning pageantry for Bill Belichick's debut at North Carolina, which will come in the primetime window on Labor Day against TCU in Chapel Hill.
ESPN will host a live show in Chapel Hill ahead of UNC-TCU with Matt Barrie, Tedy Bruschi, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban and @PeteThamel. Rece Davis/Kirk Herbstreit/Holly Rowe also will call the game.
— Bryan Fischer (@BryanDFischer) July 24, 2025
So Belichick's Carolina debut is getting, effectively, the College GameDay treatment, just on a Monday instead of Saturday. ESPN is sending its A-list broadcasters to call the game with Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit, along with Holly Rowe as the sideline reporter. It's obvious that ESPN knows how big of a deal Belichick's first game as a college head coach is, and plans to play it up as much as possible.
You can credit the "Coach Prime effect" for that. Belichick at UNC provides plenty of intrigue. He's considered perhaps the greatest head coach in NFL history, winning six Super Bowls as the head coach of the New England Patriots before an unceremonious end to his tenure in Foxboro. His off-field relationship with 24-year-old Jordan Hudson, and all that has come with that, has led to further drama/intrigue.
ESPN planning to broadcast most of North Carolina's games in 2025
Whether or not Belichick's tenure at North Carolina is successful, or a tremendous failure, you'll get to watch it on national television. According to Awful Announcing, the ESPN family of networks is scheduled to broadcast eight North Carolina games this season already, and that number could jump all the way up to 10.
CBS believes there's a wide-range of possibilities for North Carolina this season. They believe the best-case scenario puts the Tar Heels at 9-3, which would put them squarely in the conversation for a spot in the ACC Championship Game, playing for a spot in the College Football Playoff.
But they also believe there's potential for a total blow-up and a 5-7 season. The Heels have a manageable schedule, but it's fair to question how focused Belichick is on this job.
His contract buyout, which dropped to just $1 million at the beginning of this month, points to a coach who could be looking to jump back to the NFL quickly after just a season in Chapel Hill. Belichick is believed to covet breaking Don Shula's all-time wins record of 328. Belichick is 26 wins shy of Shula.