Bill Belichick is still more than a month away from making his collegiate coaching debut at North Carolina, but the hype around the eight-time Super Bowl-winning coach has already reached a fever pitch.
The school announced Wednesday morning that all tickets for 2025, including season and single-game, have been sold.
“The July announcement marks the earliest that all tickets for the season have ever been sold out in program history,” the release said.
The Tar Heels also sold out season tickets in 2019 and 2021 under Mack Brown — the seasons before and after the COVID-19 pandemic — and averaged 50,000-plus fans in 2019 and 2023, but saw a dip in attendance last season as Brown struggled and eventually was fired. Per D1ticker.com, UNC had an average attendance of 50,095 in 2023, which fell nearly 5 percent to 47,686 in 2024. Brown went 6-6 in his final season and coached his final game against rival NC State.
Belichick, despite never coaching in college before, was named UNC’s coach on Dec. 11. There has been skepticism about whether his skills from the NFL will translate to the college level, and questions arose when the Tar Heels hosted a lackluster public practice to close out the spring period to little fanfare. His personal relationship with girlfriend Jordon Hudson has also been a news topic.
But since a viral interview with CBS in April, Hudson and Belichick have seemingly stayed out of the spotlight, and Belichick has continued to build out his roster. He found his quarterback in South Alabama transfer Gio Lopez, who finished third in the Sun Belt with 232.6 passing yards per game a season ago. Belichick has added 40-plus transfers in total and has made it clear that the Tar Heels will practice and operate like an NFL team.
UNC opens its season on Labor Day night against TCU in what will be an early litmus test for Belichick. The Tar Heels also host ACC favorite Clemson in early October, but the schedule is otherwise favorable for Belichick to make a run in Year 1.
Kickoff for the TCU game is set for 8 p.m. ET and will air on ESPN.
(Photo: Peyton Williams / Getty Images)
