Bill Belichick’s North Carolina coaching debut against TCU moved to Labor Day
TCU football’s season opener against Bill Belichick and North Carolina has been moved to a national televised broadcast prime time slot.
The Horned Frogs will now face the Tar Heels on Labor Day, Sept. 1 at 6:30 pm.
TCU was originally slated to face North Carolina on Aug. 30, but the arrival of Belichick led to ESPN to put move his debut in a primetime slot.
Belichick is arguably the greatest pro football coach of all-time after winning six Super Bowls with Tom Brady and the New England Patriots. He also won two Super Bowls as an assistant coach.
The three-time Associated Press NFL Coach of the Year was fired by the Patriots in 2023 and after spending a year off from coaching, Belichick accepted the Tar Heels head coaching job on Dec. 11.
Stakes will be high for both programs in the national primetime game as TCU will enter the season with high expectations after finishing last season 9-4. The Horned Frogs return starting quarterback Josh Hoover and will be optimistic the team can take another jump defensively in the second year under defensive coordinator Andy Avalos.
While TCU. coming off a 9-4 season, could be a preseason top-25 team, North Carolina will aim to bounce back after a 6-7 campaign in coach Mack Brown’s final season. There are a plethora of questions facing Belichick and whether he can fit at the college level after spending almost all of his near 50-year coaching career in the pros.
It’s not the first time Sonny Dykes and the Horned Frogs will face a legend making their coaching debut. Deion Sanders and Colorado shocked TCU 45-42 on Sept. 2, 2023, in Sanders’ first game as a head coach at the FBS level.
There’s a case to be made that the win over TCU, which was coming off a national championship game appearance, helped launch Sanders’s stint in Boulder. The Horned Frogs will aim to avoid letting Belichick have the same type of momentum building win.
