How Players Emerge in the Bill Belichick Era

Belichick and the staff have seen running back Demon June, wide receivers Madrid Tucker, Shanard Clower and Nathan Leacock get playing time despite being newcomers to the collegiate game.

• “Well, like a lot of players who are new to the program, and either got here, particularly in June, in that June-July area, that were a little bit behind other players in terms of knowledge, experience, playing experience at this level and so forth. But as we practiced more and competed more, the gap has narrowed," said Belichick on Tuesday.

• "And some of those players have showed that they are ready to compete on this level and have earned more playing time and so at the receiver position Madrid's (Tucker) done that, Shanard’s (Clower) done it. Nate’s (Leacock) done it. So, you know, (Demon June) Juju did it as a running back."

• "So we have guys who are playing more than they did earlier in the year, because they have shown that in our opinion, they've shown in competitive situations that they're ready for those opportunities, and what they do with them when they get them, that's again, obviously up to them."

• "But in some cases, those guys have shown that they can do it competitively in games after they've earned the opportunity to do it, and then they'll get more opportunities. And other cases where we thought players are ready, and they weren't as ready as they maybe they need to be."

• "So they have to go back and have some more work to do before they're really ready to play and take on a bigger role. So, you know, we'll see how it goes. Sometimes it's one good performance, and then one not so good one. Sometimes one not so good one, and then one good and so, you know, time will tell on that."

• "But we just do the best we can to give the players who earn the opportunity — we do our best to give them that. And then it's up to them to perform with that chance.”

Belichick, in his first year at the college level as a head coach, has given opportunities when he sees fit and it has led to some of the best individual performances this season — regardless of the wins and losses. The Tar Heels are going putting the pieces together with its defense being the biggest factor its improvement over the last couple of games.

The Newcomers Have Been Impactful, but the Defense Is Another Story

Defensive coordinator Steve Belichick has gathered the unit and held two Power 4 conference programs — North Carolina's kryptonite — to 41 points total, two weeks in a row. With a 2-5 record, and five games left in the season, UNC is running out of chances to become bowl eligible, but a victory over the Orange on the road on Friday night could give it momentum.

North Carolina has continued to make small incremental improvements toward becoming a better football team, and its evident for everyone one to see on the field. But still not win to show for, nonetheless, as the program has not had such outcome since September 13.

Time is ticking for UNC to continue to show all of what it could have been at the start of the season, but the past is in the past as the team struts forward into the back-end of the year. After Syracuse, North Carolina will face Stanford (home), Wake Forest (road), Duke (home) and NC State (road).

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