By Ryan Bisesi, WRAL multiplatform producer

Chapel Hill, N.C. — As any good North Carolinian knows, the state motto is Esse quam videri, which is Latin for “to be rather than to seem.”

Like a lot of observers at the time, I felt the inclusion of Bill Belichick in the North Carolina coaching search and the leaks around it was to help the job seem more attractive than it actually was.

This felt like an SEO-induced launch into the news cycle for a program needing some positive headlines after a disappointing season that ended with an awkward departure for its winningest head coach.

One week later, Belichick’s detour from Nantucket onto Tobacco Road captured the attention of the football world. It’s also a monumental move for a region that values big-time college sports, but has never really experienced the football success that we see in neighboring states.

It is an absolute hell of a time to be getting your feet wet in coaching college football, even for someone with Belichick’s credentials. The number of Pandora’s boxes opened in the sport throughout the last five years has made it unrecognizable amid a sea of changes that are getting mixed reviews. Now, here’s another – the most celebrated coach in the sport’s modern era is going back to school.

Why would Belichick, at 72 and carrying an encyclopedic knowledge of the game, come to Chapel Hill?

Belichick’s requests for the program to become a facsimile of an NFL operation would require an upheaval at an institutional level. If there’s ever been a turn-the-corner moment for the Triangle, an area surrounded by southern states with schools that routinely play for national championships, to earn a seat at the big kids’ table, this is it, right? The instant credibility boost and implied commitment to football underscore that this is a massive undertaking that’s part experiment and part pie-in-the-sky aspiration. With no clear every-year favorite in the ACC, there is a space for UNC to use this as a catapult to contention, especially with a manageable schedule this fall.

Questions abound: In this environment, what even is a realistic expectation for Belichick to create at UNC? Reading the tea leaves, what would this do for other ACC schools looking to keep pace with UNC if Belichick creates a juggernaut? One of his first orders of business would be to fix a defense that has failed to cultivate any sort of identity in the last 10 years, consistently coming up short in big moments and creating an aura of softness. Is Belichick, who’s known for substance over style and not one to get caught up with the bells and whistles of football’s hype machine, the perfect fit to turn around a program that’s been smoke-and-mirrors since Mack Brown’s first stint?

UNC, Duke and NC State have all gone without an ACC championship since the conference adopted a title game in 2005. UNC has not won an ACC football title since 1980. When it comes to college football, the Triangle has served as a Bermuda Triangle for sustained success, desperately in search of escaping the plateau it seems to have reached.

This seems like an all-in investment that you never really go back from, but as fans know, the progression of football at UNC and throughout the Triangle is not linear.

Nothing in Triangle college football is what it seems when it comes to getting over this decades-long hump. Duke seemed at the precipice of a turning point in 2023 when it was 4-0 and held a fourth-quarter lead against Notre Dame, having already beaten Clemson to start the season. The Blue Devils wound up losing that game, their quarterback left for that same team months later and coach Mike Elko left to accept the Texas A&M. Back to the drawing board.

A season later, NC State appeared to make a leap after a momentous offseason in retaining key players and plucking a talented quarterback (Grayson McCall), wide receiver (Noah Rodgers) and running back (Jordan Waters) in the transfer portal. The Wolfpack endured more turbulence, getting embarrassed in marquee early-season matchups against Tennessee and Clemson and needing a win in their final game to reach a bowl.

In 2021, UNC seemed poised to take the next step with a top 10 ranking to start the season coming off an Orange Bowl appearance. The Tar Heels dropped the season opener against Virginia Tech and lost three of their last four games.

This year, victories are coming before the first snap is even logged. Season ticket sales will surge, game times will move away from noon and broadcasts figure to go toward the bigger networks. Fundraising will spike and excitement will continue to build until the season opener on Aug. 30 against TCU. Marketing, money to spend and social media-driven hype matter now more than ever. Just look at rosters for big-time teams in neighboring states like Clemson, Georgia and Tennessee that are sprinkled with high school players from North Carolina who chose the advantages at those schools over any of the four ACC schools in their backyard.

The story of the last week is how this hire alters the fabric of the university, the conference and the region, how it affects the balance of power between academics and athletics and what becomes of the rapidly vanishing veil between big-time college football and the schools they associate with along with the ongoing morphing of the college game into the NFL with marching bands.

The discussions surrounding those topics will continue in the years to come, with Belichick’s hiring no doubt used as a point of reference for football’s growth in the area. This move is the most conviction any Triangle school has shown toward football and results will be expected, starting in August. Duke, NC State and Wake Forest are quietly taking note of how the game is changing in a region that’s always been thought of as hoops-first.

Working up new game plans every week and maintaining an exhaustive attention to detail can translate to the game at any level. Belichick is known for this. Keeping boosters happy, managing a post-NIL world and keeping players out of the transfer portal are all new challenges for Belichick, ones he may not be as suited for compared to someone with the made-for-TV charisma of Brown. A three-year plan won’t cut it. Does Belichick, at his age, have the energy and fortitude to install sweeping, transformative changes from top-to-bottom on an aggressive timeline? Time will tell.

One thing’s certain: Those postgame press conferences just got a lot shorter.

Source: wralsportsfan.com