Sean McDonough doesn’t think Bill Belichick needed North Carolina to damage his reputation. The veteran ESPN broadcaster believes the legendary coach’s legacy was already under scrutiny before the Tar Heels’ disastrous start to the 2025 season.
McDonough appeared on Outkick’s Don’t @ Me with Dan Dakich on Monday and addressed the backlash Belichick has faced during his first season in Chapel Hill. North Carolina sits at 2-3 following Saturday’s blowout loss to Clemson, continuing a stunning fall for a program that entered the year with sky-high expectations after landing one of the greatest coaches in NFL history.
When Dakich inquired about the vitriol surrounding Belichick’s tenure, McDonough pointed to several factors that had been working against the coach from the start.
“I think part of it was they weren’t way down,” McDonough said. “I think I read the other day that they had won 23 games in the previous three years. That’s just under eight a year under Mack Brown. So, it wasn’t like dregs of college football, so that might be part of it.”
The expectations were unrealistic from the jump. North Carolina promoted itself as becoming the “33rd NFL team” with Belichick’s arrival, setting a standard the program couldn’t possibly meet right away. The season opener against TCU drew a packed house, and when the Tar Heels drove down the field and scored on the opening drive, everyone bought into the hype. But that momentum didn’t last.
That said, McDonough’s bigger point wasn’t about North Carolina at all. He argued that Belichick’s legacy had already taken a hit before he ever stepped foot on a college campus.
“College is a little different from pro, so that’s one thing,” he said. “I already think his legacy [in New England] was in question, and probably around football, just because the narrative has become that before Tom Brady, he had a losing record when he was in Cleveland.”
McDonough pointed to Belichick’s record before Brady as another sticking point. The coach had a losing record during his tenure with the Cleveland Browns in the early 1990s. Nick Saban and others who worked with Belichick in Cleveland have defended his work there, arguing that the franchise’s move to Baltimore threw everything into chaos.
“But the narrative around here is record with Tom Brady and the record without Tom Brady,” McDonough added. “And it is pretty stark.”
The Patriots went 29-38 in the four seasons after Tom Brady left for Tampa Bay. Brady won a Super Bowl in his first year with the Buccaneers. Belichick went 4-13 in his final season in New England and hasn’t done much since. The comparison isn’t pretty, and it’s become the defining narrative around Belichick’s career. Was he the genius behind the dynasty, or was Brady the real reason for all those championships?
“Now, Tom Brady, to me, is the greatest football player of all time,” McDonough continued. “You know, he went to Tampa and won a Super Bowl, which I don’t think helped Bill’s legacy… We’re trying to determine the most important person in the Patriots’ success. Was it Brady or Belichick? Brady went to Tampa Bay and won a Super Bowl with Bruce Arians, who I love, as the coach. Belichick has really not done much else since. I think his legacy was already in question here before the whole North Carolina thing.”
The North Carolina experiment was supposed to answer some of those questions. Instead, it’s created new ones.
The program has been a disaster on and off the field, and Belichick’s girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, has been a constant distraction. Hudson demanded content approval and partial ownership of HBO’s Hard Knocks, killing the project before it started. She reportedly crashed the set of one of Belichick’s commercials, wearing a yellow polka dot bikini, hoping to star in her own ad. After interrupting Belichick’s CBS interview, Pablo Torre reported Hudson was banned from the football facility, though UNC denied it. One university official told The Washington Post they’re worried about what’s coming next. Pablo Torre even suggested Belichick might not make it to the end of his first season.
Whether Belichick’s legacy takes another hit depends on how the rest of this season plays out. But according to McDonough, the damage was already done before North Carolina ever kicked off against TCU.
About Sam Neumann
Since the beginning of 2023, Sam has been a staff writer for Awful Announcing and The Comeback. A 2021 graduate of Temple University, Sam is a Charlotte native, who currently calls Greenville, South Carolina his home. He also has a love/hate relationship with the New York Mets and Jets.