How Bill Belichick and his players are building a new culture for UNC football

In the early hours Friday, a select trio of UNC football players arrived with vigor at a conference-turned-interview room tucked away on the third floor of the Hilton Uptown Charlotte.

Following a tumultuous 4-8 first year under six-time Super Bowl-winning head coach Bill Belichick, returning players Jordan Shipp, Christo Kelly and Melkart Abou Jaoude didn’t lack energy as they fielded questions about coming back to a program during an uncertain time.

They just exuded self-confidence and spoke about their sense of sacrificial bonds.

During interviews, the players raved about buy-in at summer practices, growth within team leadership circles and a heightened sense of the group standards.

At one point, Shipp quickly moved off a question about five-year, age-based eligibility and chose to speak about his willingness to take a snap if a teammate is tired. He said he’s focused on his intentions to win the ACC Championship.

Between press conferences, the players moved confidently through the relatively tense room. As they took turns at the microphone, they introduced each other with jokes, daps and hugs, listening intently to their peers.

Early on, Shipp, a junior receiver, quipped that the graduate offensive lineman Kelly was in college during the COVID pandemic, long before him. Later, Kelly praised a reporter’s question, not even directed to him, but to Jaoude.

This year, the team culture looks a lot different, the UNC players said. And among the Tar Heels’ three player representatives at ACC Kickoff, those newly strengthened bonds were evident.

“Everybody’s buying into the process,” Shipp said. “And everybody understands that it’s not going to be easy.”

Putting a football team together on the fly

Last season, UNC had to pick up “leftovers” in the December 2024 transfer portal window, said Belichick, who was hired that same month, putting them behind in recruiting.

In the spring, they shopped in the same pool as other schools, he said, but couldn’t get the squad of 70 newcomers together until the fall.

The Tar Heels didn’t even have entirely player-run summer practices, Belichick said, because they didn’t have enough people to line up a team to run against each other without coaches being there.

The scrambled preparation led to the poor results, and by October, players and parents were shunning the team’s culture.

UNC’s player-run summer practices

This year, despite having the youngest roster in the ACC with an average age of 19.96, according to RotoWire, UNC has leaned on player-run summer practices to build the sturdy bonds they plan to lean on to get ahead in the fall. Shipp said the team deepened bonds and learned to hold each other to a higher standard during these sessions.

Shipp — who racked up 671 yards, 60 receptions and six touchdowns last season — said the team wanted summer practices to be player-run so they could hold each other to the “highest standard.” If a player was late, he said, the player was not allowed to join the session and had to find another to train that day.

“Everybody’s waking up and just really ready to work,” Shipp said, “pushing each other, pushing themselves … As long as we can keep holding that standard as long as possible, I feel like the sky is the limit for us.”

Jaoude — who finished second in the ACC with 10.5 sacks last season — said the culture of calling out other players has worked because of the relationships the players have built with one another. These bonds have seemingly only been made possible with time they didn’t have in Belichick’s first year.

As long as the critique is delivered humbly, he said, players are receptive to the feedback.

“When I get called out by my peers,” Jaoude said, “I’m like, that’s on me, and I want to be better for them and do better for them.”

A better understanding of Bill Belichick’s system

Kelly said the team has had better structure in place for player-led practices this year because they have a greater understanding of Belichick’s system. Players have gotten used to the difficulties of pushing each other to their limits, Kelly added, and enjoying the struggle of grinding.

In line with Belichick’s teachings, Kelly said the team has been focused on ingraining and executing daily activities at a high level.

“When you have that continuity, when you have that buy-in from everyone, results will take care of themselves,” Kelly said. “But for us, we’re focused on the process.”

While last season didn’t go how the team wanted, Shipp said he’s actually grateful to have gone through hardship as a young player. As outside pressure piled on Belichick, he said the team adopted an us-against-everybody mentality.

This year, Shipp said, the team knows not to expect external support and is setting out to protect the UNC brand and each other.

“Everybody wanted to see coach Belichick fail,” Shipp said, “and it was just like we knew that we were in this by ourselves.”

Kelly, too, is excited about the coaching staff this year, which features Belichick in his second year and new offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino, who arrived in January after spending the past two seasons at Arkansas.

He said the team doesn’t pay attention to the trail of outside noise that has followed the prolific coach around since he arrived at UNC. He sees a different side of Belichick, one that sets a standard and is humble enough to ask players for their input on the program’s process.

(Belichick) could cure cancer,” Kelly said, “and people would still write negative pieces about him.”

UNC hires Bobby Petrino

Petrino, Kelly said, has displayed purpose and experience during practice and has a strong track record in player development.

Petrino was two-time NFL MVP Lamar Jackson’s coach at Louisville when he won the Heisman Trophy in 2016 and was involved in the development of several other notable players.

He will be tasked with turning around an offense that ranked among the bottom 20 teams in college football with 19.3 points per game under signal caller Freddie Kitchens.

“(Petrino is) a good old-fashioned ball coach,” Kelly said, “Everything that he does, there’s an intentionality behind it.

The spring and summer were about fundamentals and learning terminology, Belichick said. Based on Friday’s comments, it seems the team is far ahead on these aspects this season.

For the fall, when the technical aspects of schemes come into play, UNC appears to be leaning on its newfound second-year bonds in hopes of moving in the right direction.

“Last year, when we started, we were literally starting from scratch,” Belichick said. “We’re above that now for sure.”

This story was originally published July 17, 2026 at 1:08 PM.