By R.L. Bynum
CHAPEL HILL — Bill Belichick was grinning as if he had just won another Super Bowl.
That is how North Carolina offensive lineman Christo Kelly remembers it. Kelly and a teammate were walking toward class when they spotted their coach coming the other direction, clipboard in hand, smiling wide enough to stop them in their tracks.
“Coach, what were you up to?” Kelly recalled asking.
Belichick’s answer was simple and revealing.
“Thirteen for 13,” Belichick said that day.
He had spent the morning checking classrooms, making sure his players were where they were supposed to be. All 13 he checked were in their seats.
For Kelly, speaking to the media at the Kenan Football Center on Tuesday after a week of spring practice, the moment said as much about the program at Carolina as anything that happens between the lines on Saturdays. It was a reminder that Belichick’s obsession with details does not stop at video study or practice reps. It extends to everything.
“How you do anything is how you do everything,” said Kelly, a 6–4, 305-pound graduate student who transferred from Holy Cross, reflecting on the moment.
He suggested that those outside the program wouldn’t expect Belichick to be checking on attendance for an anthropology class at 8 a.m. on a Tuesday. But he does and Kelly says it is evidence of his buy-in.
“Hey, what’s the best way of winning? If it’s class-checking, it’s class-checking,” Kelly said. “It’s so cool to see that level of investment that he has. The work ethic that Coach Belichick has;is truly unmatched. It’s infectious. It’s contagious.”
That perspective did not come easily. It was shaped, in large part, by a season Kelly spent watching instead of playing.
Kelly’s second year in Chapel Hill looks nothing like his first, at least physically. After a 2025 season derailed by a left ankle injury that limited him to two games, he says he now feels “100 percent,” a statement that carries more weight when paired with everything that came before it.
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Last season, he was stuck on the sideline, forced into a role he had never occupied.
“The biggest thing was leading from a different role,” Kelly said. “Being on the sideline for pretty much the whole year. Being able to motivate guys differently, taking more of a player-coach type of role.”
It changed how he sees the game. It also deepened his connection to it.
“I don’t know if I’ve ever had more fun playing football these past six practices,” he said of the first spring drills. “There’s a deeper sense of gratitude that I have, not just playing here at North Carolina, but playing this game of football.”
That gratitude was forged in long days of rehab, when contributing meant something different.
“Waking up every day wanting to give everything to this team and not being able to go, that’s tough,” Kelly said. “But the appreciation I have for this team has grown.”
He credits a small group within the program for helping him through it, including athletic trainer Catherine Miller, strength coach Moses Cabrera, and the team’s nutrition staff. Together, they formed what Kelly called a “three-headed approach” that allowed him to rebuild both physically and mentally.
“It’s a world-class program,” he said. “What we do day in and day out, how guys are prepared, it’s unbelievable.”
That experience now informs Kelly’s approach to leadership, especially on a roster that has welcomed a wave of newcomers.
UNC’s spring practices, he said, have been defined by competition, particularly at quarterback, where multiple players are vying for control of the offense. From Kelly’s vantage point up front, the early returns have been encouraging.
“There’s a lot of leadership in that [quarterback] room, tremendous ability,” he said. “Whether it’s guys who have been here or guys coming from new places, everyone is buying into what the vision is at North Carolina.”
That theme, team over self, echoes throughout the program. Kelly points to veteran leaders across position groups who set the tone not with speeches, but with preparation and consistency.
“When your leaders are the hardest workers, guys look to them and see, ‘How do I operate?’ It’s a grind,” Kelly said. “There’s no team that works as hard as we do, from a strength and conditioning standpoint, from a practice standpoint, from a preparation standpoint.”
The difference this spring, compared to a year ago, is familiarity. Players understand the expectations, the practice structure, and the language of the program. Coaches, in turn, have a better sense of how to deploy their personnel.
“It’s being able to talk in the same language,” Kelly said. “Last year, everyone was new, players and coaches.”
That rhythm is being reshaped offensively under new coordinator Bobby Petrino, whose arrival has brought both complexity and clarity.
“It’s clear to see why Coach Petrino has had the success that he’s had,” Kelly said. “The attention to detail, the level of consistency that is needed, the pre-snap reads, getting to the best possible play. It’s been really fun to play in this offense.”
For an offensive lineman, that means more than just blocking assignments. It requires understanding the full picture, from defensive fronts to quarterback checks.
The early identity, Kelly says, starts with physicality.
“Being the most physical team, establishing the run,” he said. “That’s not just offensive line, and tight ends locking; it’s receivers, balls caught, blocking down the field. You already see guys buying into this vision.”
It is also, as Belichick would likely insist, about eliminating self-inflicted mistakes.
“Before you can beat somebody else, you have to stop beating yourself,” Kelly said.
That was a defining issue last season, when inconsistency and missed opportunities kept the offense from finding its ceiling. Kelly views those struggles not as a failure, but as a reminder of how thin the margins are.
“Three or four plays completely change the whole entire season,” he said. “Not being hyper-fixated on the results, and more so focusing on the process.”
The process, a word Kelly returned to often, now defines both his personal journey and the team’s collective outlook.
Each practice, he says, is treated as the most important one they will have, because it is the only one they can control. Improvement is measured in small increments, stacked day after day.
It sounds simple, but it is the foundation of everything Belichick has built, from NFL dynasties to early morning classroom checks in Chapel Hill.
For Kelly, the player who once had to lead from the sideline, it all comes back to perspective.
“Success will be inevitable if you do it the right way,” he said. “But none of it matters if you don’t take care of today.”
UNC schedule
| Month/ date | Score/ time | Opponent |
|---|---|---|
| August | ||
| 29 | TBA | vs.TCU in Dublin, Ireland |
| September | ||
| 12 | TBA | vs. ETSU |
| 19 | TBA | at Clemson |
| October | ||
| 3 | TBA | vs. Notre Dame |
| 10 | TBA | at Pittsburgh |
| 17 | TBA | at Duke |
| 24 | TBA | vs. Syracuse |
| 31 | TBA | vs. Miami |
| November | ||
| 7 | TBA | at UConn |
| 14 | TBA | vs. Louisville |
| 21 | TBA | at Virginia |
| 28 | TBA | vs. N.C. State |
| December | ||
| 5 | noon, ABC | ACC championship game in Charlotte |
Photo via YouTube screenshot
