The ACC released its full 2025 schedule on Monday night, which means Bill Belichick's first schedule as North Carolina's head coach is set.
As detailed below, the year will begin in a prime time window before a curious national audience, includes UNC's first visit to two locations, opens conference play against the defending champions, takes the Tar Heels to the Pacific Coast, and ends with back-to-back-to-back in-state rivalry games.
Sept. 1: vs. TCU
-- This game has already been from Saturday, Aug. 30 to Labor Day, in an exclusive window to be televised on ESPN. Here's hoping his debut goes better than Willie Taggart's Florida State debut (a 24-3 loss to Virginia Tech on Labor Day) and Brian Kelly's LSU debut (a 24-23 loss to Florida State on Labor Day Sunday).
Sept. 6: at Charlotte
-- Belichick's first road game comes in UNC's first visit to Charlotte. The game will be played at Jerry Richardson Stadium, the late, disgraced former Carolina Panthers owner. Belichick won his second Super Bowl over Richardson's Panthers to close the 2003 season.
Sept. 13: vs. Richmond
-- By my count, North Carolina hasn't lost to an FCS opponent since Nov. 4, 1978, when the Heels were on the wrong end of a 27-18 decision to... Richmond. We would advise against Belichick repeating history here. (Editor's note: UNC lost to Furman in 1999.)
Sept. 20: at UCF
-- North Carolina's first meeting with UCF, and also Belichick's first visit to the famed Bounce House.
Oct. 4: vs. Clemson
-- Belichick's ACC debut comes against the defending ACC champions and heavy favorites to repeat. North Carolina hasn't beaten Clemson since 2010, and snapping the Tar Heels' 6-game series losing streak would go a long way toward making his first season successful.
Oct. 17: at Cal
-- If they can shake off the jet lag, North Carolina should be well rested for this game: they're off two of the three weeks before their visit to Berkeley. Cal has won both previous meetings in this series, a 2017-18 home-and-home in which if someone suggested at the time would one day be a conference game coached by Bill Belichick (as he was in the process of reaching three straight Super Bowls, winning two), that person would have been assumed to ingested Berkeley's finest homegrown ganja.
Oct. 25: vs. Virginia
-- In the 130th meeting of the South's Oldest Rivalry, North Carolina has won three of four against a UVA program looking for its first winning season since 2019.
Oct. 31: at Syracuse
-- North Carolina's third weeknight game comes on Halloween. Will Belichick dress as a fisherman on the sideline? One can only hope. "Candy and costumes," he once said, "how can you beat that?"
Nov. 8: vs. Stanford
-- Stanford is looking to improve upon four straight 3-9 seasons, so getting the Cardinal at home, in their fifth straight week of ACC action, feels like a must-win for the Belichick and the Tar Heels.
Nov. 15: at Wake Forest
-- North Carolina has won four straight in this series, including against two Demon Deacons teams that won a combined 19 games in 2021-22. Now, Wake is re-tooling under first-year head coach Jake Dickert after going 8-16 in 2023-24, so this shapes up as another opportunity for a Tar Heel victory.
Nov. 22: vs. Duke
-- Belichick claims his first words were "Beat Duke" (fact check needed), so here's his first opportunity to do it. The Blue Devils have won 26 games over the past three seasons, and are gunning for big things in 2025 after bringing in Tulane quarterback Darian Mensah via the transfer portal. North Carolina has not lost to Duke in Chapel Hill since 2017.
Nov. 29: at NC State
-- Mack Brown left a 4-game losing streak to NC State behind, and the Wolfpack scored between 30 and 39 points in all four wins. Carter-Finley Stadium will be absolutely raucous as the home team looks to push its streak to five against the NFL's greatest all-time coach.
So, there you have it. How many wins do you see here? Personally, I'm forecasting a number somewhere between zero and 12.
As always, stay tuned to The Scoop for the latest.