UNC football doesn’t labor under high expectations heading into 2026. Last season’s August anticipation has given way to this season’s August apathy. The buzzword for UNC football during camp has been “improvement,” as if the program, after last season’s closing whimper against NC State, had anywhere to go but up. That game felt like rock bottom.
Without diving too deep into the dysfunction of last season, here are three reasons to feel better about UNC football this season as the first kickoff looms in five days.
UNC football actually had normal spring and summer practices this time around.
UNC football last season was a disorganized mess heading into and during spring ball. “It was very stressful,” said a former member of the staff. “Everyone was running around like chickens with their heads cut off.” Example: GM Michael Lombardi brought in Ryan Browne to be the starting quarterback, but after watching him during spring practice, Lombardi and Belichick paid him to go away and brought in Gio Lopez. At ACC media days last month, Belichick admitted that last year’s spring practice never built a sufficient foundation for the program to have player-led practices over the summer. So, UNC didn’t really start preparing last season’s offense until August, conceding months of preparation to the opposition. If you’re wondering why UNC barely resembled an FBS football team in the opening month of the season, start there.
This season, UNC’s roster experienced a normal spring practice. Those players then built upon the spring installs with summer player-led practices. If nothing else, expect UNC at least to look and execute like a normal football program out of the gate this season.
UNC football seems to have much better identity and leadership this time around.
Last season’s opening embarrassments led to a locker room revolt after the Clemson game, as tensions brewing during those months of dysfunction spilled over. While players hate losing, they hate being clowned even more. The full impact of program mismanagement and the total circus — Lombardi’s “33rd NFL team” arrogance, Jordon Hudson’s hunger for attention and affirmation, the on-field results — became too obvious to wish away. While the team rallied somewhat through the middle part of the schedule, the wheels came off again down the stretch. The team accrued nearly half its penalties on the season in the last four games, 23 for 232 yards against Duke and State alone. The defense and special teams allowed 10 touchdowns and a field goal in 15 drives (not including end-of-half kneel-downs) to Duke and State. They’d largely quit.
This year, the team seems much more cohesive, which relates to the work and belief that started with winter workouts and spring ball. Last year, it felt like the players didn’t know what they were playing for much of the time. This season, players have been sweating side by side for months with clear purpose and structure. In turn, that raises the chances of playing for each other, as well as raising the floor on focus and effort. Losing, especially losing big, might derail things again, but the vibes heading into the season feel much more genuine rather than empty hype based on a celebrity coach’s resume.
Jordon Hudson and Michael Lombardi have disappeared.
Belichick and Hudson were common targets for the paparazzi last summer and fall, recorded together almost constantly on top of posting selfies. Perhaps the most infamous of those photos was Belichick lying on a beach, holding Hudson above him in a supine position with his legs — right before getting blown off the field by a very mid UCF team. This summer, Belichick and Hudson haven’t been seen together much in public, if at all. That circus, for the time being at least, seems to have folded up tents and left town. Hudson’s visibility as partner of a famous coach has been no different than the partners of other famous coaches, and that absence of distraction seems notable.
Lombardi, meanwhile, has also receded dramatically in public appearance, and that predates his paid administrative leave announced on July 27. Lombardi made no formal appearances during ACC media days. Bill Belichick will headline the coach’s show this season, meaning Lombardi won’t be. Like Jordon, Lombardi has gone from a “look at me” persona, constantly hunting a camera or microphone to be in front of, to a largely invisible presence. Given the amount of contempt directed Lombardi’s way in the aftermath of his suspension, the lack of anyone (including himself) rising to his defense seems significant. It’s entirely possible Lombardi never returns to UNC football. While it remains to be seen how that might affect Belichick, both current and former players “liked” a lot of social media posts about his suspension and articles shredding his performance as GM. Losing Lombardi could be a classic example of “addition by subtraction.”
Plenty of other reasons exist to be hopeful for UNC football this coming season, of course. While these three dynamics are hard to quantify, organizations create their own energy and their own atmosphere, and eliminating organization-wide negatives allows suppressed positives to flourish. UNC football in 2025 was in many ways its own worst enemy. That likely won’t be the case in 2026. The schedule definitely gets tougher, and UNC’s roster talent retains question marks across the board both on offense and on defense — but sometimes all it takes for giant steps forward is simply getting out of your own way.
