UNC Football Catch-all | Bill Belichick Era underway

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sringwal said:
It absolutely is the death of the Carolina Way. But I am not sure that Dean Smith, himself, could be the coach he was, if he were coaching in the NIL era.
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If Coach Smith were active today I don't have much doubt that he wouldn't be coaching at all at this level - he'd probably be coaching at a DIII school where he could still focus on keeping players and building a program over time. Given his personality and coaching style I don't think he'd have much interest in coaching in this transfer-happy, chaotic, mercenary era that we're in today.
 
Agree about Coach Smith. But in 2025, adapt or die. Roberts and the PTB have made the decision not to die. Think of the changes in UNC athletics since December of last year. We now have to execute
 
I think football will remain ultra popular...and it will remain so in college. For about 20-30 schools who truly can and will compete.

I dont think college football will maintain its popularity everywhere else.

By the way, we will never be one of those 20 or 30. We dont have the alumni numbers or statewide buy-in for it.

I think what will happen everywhere else will be the realization that they aren't even playing the same sport as the big boys and thus a relative disinterest in their own school's team.
 
wmheel1287 said:
I think football will remain ultra popular...and it will remain so in college. For about 20-30 schools who truly can and will compete.

I dont think college football will maintain its popularity everywhere else.

By the way, we will never be one of those 20 or 30. We dont have the alumni numbers or statewide buy-in for it.

I think what will happen everywhere else will be the realization that they aren't even playing the same sport as the big boys and thus a relative disinterest in their own school's team.
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You make a good point that there are only about 20 or so Universities that have the high number of devoted and wealthy fan donors to support a playoff level team. It’s possible that the rest of the schools in vast areas of the country may start to lose interest. I see big time football (30 or so teams) evolving into something resembling the NFL.

Whether UNC can be part of that group remains to be seen but it’s obvious we’re going to try.
 
Lol. It absolutely does not “remain to be seen” as to whether or not UNC is going to join the select group of football blue bloods with the resources, wherewithal, or institutional culture necessary to be a true championship contender year in and year out. Anyone thinking that *that’s* going to happen should disabuse themselves of that notion immediately. UNC is not ever going to have the fan support, donor support, institutional support, or financial resources required to be able to build rosters that have the depth and talent to take on the Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU’s et al of the world. We aren’t, and that’s fine. We are at least trying to mitigate that gap as best as we reasonably can by hiring the best football coach in NFL history.

For people who care about winning conference championships and actually having a chance to earn a playoff berth (especially if the playoff keeps expanding), our best bet is for the ACC to *not* implode and for us to try to become a perennial top 2-3 ACC contender alongside some combo of Clemson, Florida State, and maaaybe Miami. We probably have the resources and the ability to at least do that- be better than everyone not named Clemson in the ACC. In many years, that should theoretically be enough to be in CFP berth contention.
 
CFordUNC said:
Lol. It absolutely does not “remain to be seen” as to whether or not UNC is going to join the select group of football blue bloods with the resources, wherewithal, or institutional culture necessary to be a true championship contender year in and year out. Anyone thinking that *that’s* going to happen should disabuse themselves of that notion immediately. UNC is not ever going to have the fan support, donor support, institutional support, or financial resources required to be able to build rosters that have the depth and talent to take on the Texas, Georgia, Alabama, Ohio State, Notre Dame, LSU’s et al of the world. We aren’t, and that’s fine. We are at least trying to mitigate that gap as best as we reasonably can by hiring the best football coach in NFL history.

For people who care about winning conference championships and actually having a chance to earn a playoff berth (especially if the playoff keeps expanding), our best bet is for the ACC to *not* implode and for us to try to become a perennial top 2-3 ACC contender alongside some combo of Clemson, Florida State, and maaaybe Miami. We probably have the resources and the ability to at least do that- be better than everyone not named Clemson in the ACC. In many years, that should theoretically be enough to be in CFP berth contention.
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I didn’t say or suggest we could be in the league with the blue bloods you listed. I said can we be top 20-30.
 
Ramrouser said:
I didn’t say or suggest we could be in the league with the blue bloods you listed. I said can we be top 20-30.
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Sure, I guess, but that’s not really too dramatically different from where we historically are year over year by winning our usual 7-8 games a year. Top 20-30 most years is going to get you, what, an 8-4/9-3 type season with a Gator Bowl?
 
Just catching up on the conversation, I think I’m with the folks who say that they aren’t that fired up about the start of the UNC/college football season. That’s a drastic departure from the historic norm for me, but I think it’s a combination of several factors: 1. don’t really care much for what college sports have become with 19-year-olds demanding $1.5M to play ball and crap like players transferring 6 times in 4 years; 2. don’t really have it in me anymore to get my hopes up that THIS time will be different for Carolina football as it pertains to getting hopes/expectations raised because of a big-name splash hire; 3. don’t care to watch us play at least 75% of the teams we play on our schedule; and 4. (most importantly) my priorities and the ways that I enjoy my fall Saturday’s have changed.

I’ll still look forward to watching big matchups- like Texas vs Ohio State, doesn’t get much better than that. And I’ll still pull for UNC to win, of course, but I’m mostly indifferent to whether or not we do so, and mostly indifferent to whether or not I even watch us do so. I dropped my season tickets for the first time since I graduated because I now have much, much better ways to spend my time and money. We just moved back to NC after being away from all of our family and friends for a few years, and have a 3 year old and a 3 month old, so I’m really looking forward to spending fall Saturday’s with all of those folks at the lake, mountains, or beach.
 
superrific said:
I suspect college sports are going to lose a lot of popularity across the board because of the factors we've been talking about: it's hard to root for a team when you don't know any of the players. Even pro teams don't have this much turnover. It's especially hard to get excited in the offseason when everyone is new.

This is why, in my opinion, the antitrust judgments have gone way too far. Antitrust is not supposed to be a death knell for an entire industry.

It's also hard when you don't know who your rivals are. Part of that is conference re-alignment, but part of it is also that teams can buy themselves into contention all of a sudden. In the old days, if you weren't following carefully, you could still be pretty confident that UNC, Kansas, Kentucky, Duke, etc. would be among the best teams most years. One or two might have a down year, but usually the UK-UNC game in December was big. Now, teams can suddenly buy themselves stars, and I'm like -- since when is Auburn a 1 seed? St. Johns a 2?
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Are there any signs of slippage?
 
wmheel1287 said:
I think football will remain ultra popular...and it will remain so in college. For about 20-30 schools who truly can and will compete.

I dont think college football will maintain its popularity everywhere else.

By the way, we will never be one of those 20 or 30. We dont have the alumni numbers or statewide buy-in for it.

I think what will happen everywhere else will be the realization that they aren't even playing the same sport as the big boys and thus a relative disinterest in their own school's team.
Click to expand...
There is nothing different in 2025 about the "big boys" than 1980 or 1950. CFB has always been dominated by roughly 15 programs. Sure, you occasionally get a Nebraska to leave the big boy ranks or an Oregon to enter, but there is less parity in CFB than any other major sport.

And yet ... the sport is thriving at roughly 60-80 universities around the country. I mean just look at a school like James Madison, where interest in the program is at an all time high, even though they have no shot at ever competing with the big boys. Even Wake and Duke have invested millions into their stadiums and driven significant fundraising in recent years.

This growth has occurred against a backdrop of increased awareness of the long-term negative health effects of playing football, reduced player loyalty, the elimination of amateurism, the effective elimination of bowls, and destruction of traditional rivalries through conference realignment and expansion.

Maybe the house of cards will come tumbling down soon, but it appears that Americans have a pretty insatiable appetite for college football.
 
I will say this, as a positive about unc football. For the first time in seemingly forever, it seems like it’s decently assured that we won’t lose games by giving up 70 to the likes of a JMU or ECU type, and we likely won’t lose many games against teams against whom we’d be favored by 2 TD’s. That alone should make the season way more palatable than any in recent memory.
 
Calheel said:
There is nothing different in 2025 about the "big boys" than 1980 or 1950. CFB has always been dominated by roughly 15 programs. Sure, you occasionally get a Nebraska to leave the big boy ranks or an Oregon to enter, but there is less parity in CFB than any other major sport.

And yet ... the sport is thriving at roughly 60-80 universities around the country. I mean just look at a school like James Madison, where interest in the program is at an all time high, even though they have no shot at ever competing with the big boys. Even Wake and Duke have invested millions into their stadiums and driven significant fundraising in recent years.

This growth has occurred against a backdrop of increased awareness of the long-term negative health effects of playing football, reduced player loyalty, the elimination of amateurism, the effective elimination of bowls, and destruction of traditional rivalries through conference realignment and expansion.

Maybe the house of cards will come tumbling down soon, but it appears that Americans have a pretty insatiable appetite for college football.
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I think this is right. I think college football is at an all time peak popularity in terms of eye balls on games (not necessarily in-person attendance but eyes on TV, sports bettors, etc)
 
CFordUNC said:
Just catching up on the conversation, I think I’m with the folks who say that they aren’t that fired up about the start of the UNC/college football season. That’s a drastic departure from the historic norm for me, but I think it’s a combination of several factors: 1. don’t really care much for what college sports have become with 19-year-olds demanding $1.5M to play ball and crap like players transferring 6 times in 4 years; 2. don’t really have it in me anymore to get my hopes up that THIS time will be different for Carolina football as it pertains to getting hopes/expectations raised because of a big-name splash hire; 3. don’t care to watch us play at least 75% of the teams we play on our schedule; and 4. (most importantly) my priorities and the ways that I enjoy my fall Saturday’s have changed.

I’ll still look forward to watching big matchups- like Texas vs Ohio State, doesn’t get much better than that. And I’ll still pull for UNC to win, of course, but I’m mostly indifferent to whether or not we do so, and mostly indifferent to whether or not I even watch us do so. I dropped my season tickets for the first time since I graduated because I now have much, much better ways to spend my time and money. We just moved back to NC after being away from all of our family and friends for a few years, and have a 3 year old and a 3 month old, so I’m really looking forward to spending fall Saturday’s with all of those folks at the lake, mountains, or beach.
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I am much more excited about the 2025 season than the 2024 season. I did not think Max Johnson was going to be very good and I thought Mack was past his prime. In contrast, I think Gio Lopez is going to be very good. He reminds a bit of Darian Durant. And I think Bill has something to prove. Of course, it could all go to shit. This is the least predictable Carolina season I can recall. But I am definitely more amped for this one than last year (although 23 was the best of the three preseasons).
 
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