Why this week’s UNC-Stanford ACC football showdown has a heavy NFL feel

Bill Belichick will see some familiar faces across the sideline this week.

Saturday at Kenan Stadium, North Carolina will host Stanford in a rare meeting: Former NFL head coaches Belichick and Frank Reich will face off for the first time at the college level.

As head coaches, the two met three times in the NFL — not including when the Philadelphia Eagles won Super Bowl LII over the New England Patriots, as Reich was the offensive coordinator — with Belichick holding a 2-1 record. But both were on even, if uneasy, footing as they assumed their roles as first-time college coaches this offseason.

Both have acknowledged that the college game is becoming more professional — especially in the first season of the new revenue-sharing era — but there’s been a learning curve, no doubt. Their records tell part of the story: Stanford is 3-6 this year with two conference wins; UNC is 3-5 and just claimed its first ACC victory last Friday against Syracuse.

Reich took over as Stanford’s interim head coach in March, hired by general manager Andrew Luck. He’s since learned that the day-to-day grind looks different than it did in the NFL.

“On the schedule side, you can’t meet with the players all day, so it’s probably limited,” Reich said in a Zoom press conference on Monday. “ You can’t do quite as much schematically as you might do in the NFL, just because you don’t have as much meeting time with the players.”

Belichick has also been candid about the contrasts. To him, the individual process of coaching has been “about the same,” but the roster-management side has proven different.

“The biggest difference has been the volume of players that are potentially on your team — the number of potential recruits, the number of potential portal players,” Belichick said in a Tuesday press conference. “Whether you’re in that process or whether you’re where we are right now…you’re always heading into it or coming out of it, one or the other. So just kind of working through that. The number of players is a lot.”

It’s a stark contrast to the rosters he managed in New England. In college, thanks to the transfer portal, there’s no real offseason. Just about any player can be a free agent in any given year.

UNC football general manager Michael Lombardi, Belichick’s longtime colleague, has echoed that sentiment.

In his leaked letter to donors last month, Lombardi called the portal a “cash cow.”

“It is expensive, and you pay a premium, which is fine to fill starting roles,” Lombardi wrote in that letter. “The portal is like free agency in the NFL, good for filling specific holes in the roster, not conducive to fill depth and developing talent. We need the high school foundation to support this solution. Since Bill and I didn’t arrive until after the December 3rd signing date, the 2026 class will be our first and needs to be our best.”

But, over the weeks, Belichick has been able to put together the pieces to produce much closer finishes against Cal and UVA before, finally, the team’s first P4 victory over the Orange.

North Carolina’s defense, in particular, has taken a step forward.

The Tar Heels went from having three defensive lineman when Belichick arrived to holding Syracuse to 147 yards — the fewest yards by a UNC opponent since 1997. Melkart Abou-Jaoude, a former college walk-on who became the first defensive player to sign with Belichick out of the portal, has emerged as a star. He was named ACC Defensive Lineman of the Week after a team-high six tackles, two sacks, 2.5 tackles for loss and a forced fumble in the win over Syracuse.

Reich acknowledged Tar Heels’ defensive progress this week.

“I give a lot of credit to their players,” Reich said Monday. “It’s just the natural progression of learning a scheme and getting comfortable in it. And, obviously, Coach Belichick and his staff are continuing to put their imprint and install a system… as far as Belichick goes, in history, he does that better than anybody.”

If that upward trend continues, Belichick could improve to 3-1 all-time in head coaching matchups against Reich with a win Saturday.

Ultimately, of course, the game won’t be decided by the coaches, but by the players — something Belichick says he’s perfectly fine with.

“Luckily, we aren’t playing each other,” Belichick said Tuesday. “(Reich) had a lot better playing career than I did. I don’t think I’m going to be out there trying to tackle them and that’s probably a good thing for North Carolina. We’ll let the players do that.”

This story was originally published November 4, 2025 at 3:10 PM.