CHAPEL HILL, NC — From start to finish, the whole thing was weird.
Watching Bill Belichick follow North Carolina out of the tunnel for the season opener against TCU was jarring even the better part of a year after his arrival, demanding you finally come to grips with the fact that this is something that’s actually happening: Belichick. College football. North Carolina.
Part of your brain saw Albert Einstein walking into a new position teaching high school algebra. Another part saw Johnny Unitas as a backup for the San Diego Chargers. Something just did not compute.
The reception wasn’t surprising, though. From the sold-out ticket allotment through the community’s frenzied excitement surrounding his debut, the atmosphere inside Kenan Stadium — flashing lights, choreographed blackouts, even Michael Jordan in a luxury box — reflected the unrestrained jubilation over the school’s football-forward decision to hire a six-time Super Bowl champion as the coach of this perpetually underachieving program.
But good vibes don’t win football games. For Belichick and UNC, the party ended not long after kickoff, in a brutal blowout loss that managed to erase nine months of hope and hype in a single 60-minute package.
