Sep 7, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels wide receiver Jordan Shipp (1) duirng a time out in the second quarter at Kenan Memorial Stadium. Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

ACC Media to Assemble in Charlotte to Hear Belichick Speak

Originally posted on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI
By Scott Salomon | Last updated Jul 11, 2025 7:00 AM ET

A media throng will descend assemble in Charlotte for ACC Media Days July 22-24. There will be a celebrity coach present who will be making his first appearance before the national media as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels football team.

Enter 73-year old Bill Belichick. Belichick will meet with the national media for the first time as a college coach. He has plenty of experience dealing with the media from his many years of service in the National Football League. He also handled media day at eight Super Bowls as a head coach just fine. Belichick can certainly handle this stage.

Thursday morning the university released the names of the student-athletes who will be accompanying Belichick for his debut on the ACC dais.

Belichick will be bringing two transfer portal students as well as two that are returning from last year's squad. Incoming transfers Thaddeus Dixon and quarterback Gio Lopez will be joining Belichick in making their first statements to the national press as Tar Heels. For Lopez, he has not even been named the starting quarterback yet, and he is already the face of the franchise.

Our 2025 @ACCFootball Kickoff attendees! pic.twitter.com/qeGfQ7IiGV
— Carolina Football (@UNCFootball) July 10, 2025

This is quite the coming out party for Lopez, who still has to win the job in training camp. Last season's opening day starter Max Johnson and incoming freshman Bryce Baker will certainly provide competent competition and make Lopez win the job on the field.

Joining the two transfers are returning players wide receiver Jordan Shipp and Will Hardy.

The four players will be asked what it is like to play for a great legend like Belichick, despite the fact none of them have seen game action with the coach. Lopez will certainly talk about the open quarterback competition and be gracious to his competitors. Shipp and Hardy will probably be asked what spring ball was like under Belichick as opposed to what it was like last season under the retired Mack Brown.

The Tar Heels program will certainly be put under a microscope and it will start at the ACC Media Days. The Hilton Charlotte Uptown will definitely be filled to capacity to hear what the kids and the coach have to say.

The ACC Network will be airing interviews live all three days and it will definitely be "must see TV" when Belichick takes the microphone.

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This article first appeared on North Carolina Tar Heels on SI and was syndicated with permission.

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