Covering Carolina athletics beyond men’s basketball and football, with dedicated reporting on women’s basketball and baseball, in addition to covering other sports that rarely draw media attention
DUBLIN — Billy Edwards Jr. showed why he earned the starting spot with a solid but not spectacular performance. He didn’t throw any touchdown passes, but he also didn’t turn the ball over, going 16 of 28 for 232 yards, a total that Carolina hadn’t reached since 2024.
DUBLIN — Things were said at halftime among players, likely some of it profane, and it reset North Carolina’s defense. The unit that emerged in the second half of the Tar Heels’ 15–10 victory over TCU on Saturday night in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic at Aviva Stadium seemed to have a stronger resolve, and it caused issues for the Horned Frogs offense. TCU went scoreless for the last 49 minutes of the game.
Well, I have to say, that was somewhat unexpected.
DUBLIN — After a preseason with plenty of negative talk outside of the program, North Carolina may be the early talk of college football after an impressive opener. This looked like a totally different team than last season.
DUBLIN — The football broadcasts on the Tar Heel Sports Network will sound a little different this season without a longtime voice and a returning voice in a new role.
DUBLIN — Plenty of new experiences are kicking in for most Carolina players visiting Ireland for the first time, but it’s familiar territory for a freshman punter. What isn’t so familiar is American football.
DUBLIN — Before North Carolina gets to the game plan, there were other important lessons for the Tar Heels to learn once they arrived in Ireland on Thursday. When crossing the street, looking right when you’d normally look left. While the football will be the same, even if the game is played in the rain, people drive on the left side of the road.
The TCU team that UNC will meet in Ireland on Saturday will be very different than the one that scored 48 consecutive points to beat the Tar Heels 48–14 a year ago in Coach Bill Belichick’s college coaching debut. The quarterback who tormented UNC last September, Josh Hoover, has since transferred to reigning national champion Indiana after four seasons in Fort Worth, Texas.
CHAPEL HILL — There’s plenty of scrutiny on the Carolina football program after Coach Bill Belichick’s first Tar Heels team went 4–8. Fans are hoping for at least a bowl berth and evidence that his second team in Chapel Hill is significantly more competitive. Most betting sites have set Carolina’s season win total at 4½, and just hitting the over isn’t likely to satisfy the fan base.
CHAPEL HILL — Bill Belichick is never one to reveal information he’d prefer the opponent not to know about. He acknowledged during a Friday press conference at the Kenan Football Center that Wisconsin transfer Billy Edwards Jr. will start in the Aug. 29 opener in Dublin, Ireland, against TCU. Belichick didn’t tip his hand about how much Texas A&M transfer Miles O’Neill will play in Dublin.
CHAPEL HILL — Could North Carolina add players cut from NFL rosters? Coach Bill Belichick said he is looking into a Louisiana federal judge’s decision Wednesday granting a temporary restraining order that would allow some of them to enter the transfer portal. With classes already underway, it would be a challenge.
Graduate student Billy Edwards Jr., who was considered the favorite to be North Carolina’s starting quarterback entering training camp, reportedly will be the starter for next week’s opener against TCU. Junior Texas A&M transfer Miles O’Neill started scrimmages, got first-team reps in practices open to the media and made it a close race, but ESPN’s Pete Thamel reported Tuesday afternoon that, according to sources, Edwards would be the starter for the noon ET game Aug. 29 at the Aer Lingus College Football Classic in Dublin, Ireland.
The preseason AP Top 25 football poll offers more proof that North Carolina’s 2026 schedule is far tougher than the one it faced during a 4–8 season a year ago. Virginia was the Tar Heels’ only ranked opponent last season (No. 16 when UNC lost 17-16 in overtime at Kenan Stadium on Oct. 25), but this year they’ll face three ranked teams, including two in the top 10, along with four others that received votes.
CHAPEL HILL — Payton Seelmann spent one productive Saturday last season lining up across from North Carolina in a Richmond uniform. Now he’s wearing Carolina blue, and Bill Belichick has already found plenty to like about the linebacker’s game.
CHAPEL HILL — What’s in a number? With one number much higher than it should be, Kaleb Jackson is wearing a number much higher than you would expect from a running back. Like last season at LSU, the running back reported to camp weighing significantly more than he should be.
