The North Carolina Tar Heels football program has seen many big names pass through, from Lawrence Taylor to Drake Maye. But never has UNC football experienced the level of publicity that they’ve received over the past week, after announcing Bill Belichick as their new head coach.
After finishing in the bottom half of the ACC in 2024, the Tar Heels shocked the college football world by hiring the six-time Super Bowl champion. It’ll be up to Bill to turn them around after going 3-5 in conference play and 6-6 overall this season.
There’s no doubt that Belichick will attract plenty of attention from players in the transfer portal, but many are also expecting him to find some talent among the men that are already at Chapel Hill.
That even includes players who are playing a different sport at the moment.
There’s been a lot of talk about the former Patriots bench boss focusing mainly on the UNC lacrosse program, as he used to play lacrosse himself during his college days at Wesleyan. In fact, one person on social media thinks they’ve already identified Bill Belichick’s favorite Tar Heels player.
That would be Ryan Hornyak, a 5-star place-kicker who is also a 3-star lacrosse player.
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Bill Belichick may have an immediate favorite player when he steps on campus as HC of @UNCFootball.
— Hayden Lewis (@15haydenlewis) December 11, 2024
Ryan Hornyak, a 5-star place-kicker for @UNCFootball and 3-star D-middy for @UNCMensLacrosse.
He was coached by @Kyle47Jackson of the @PLLChaos while playing for @AOF_Lacrosse. pic.twitter.com/f4hGV5KU6J
This makes a ton of sense. And there are plenty of people on social media who saw this coming:
Belichick’s first order of business: recruit internally. Steal a TE from the UNC basketball team, K from the soccer team, QB from the baseball team, & WR from the lacrosse team, and there ya go 4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ star recruits in a day #UNCFootball
— Mark Hogan (@DFS_Marlin) December 13, 2024
Honestly what I want more than anything about the Belichick hire at Carolina is to see about 20% of the starters as former DIII Lacrosse players just for the vibes
— Jacob Cowden (@jacobcowden28) December 12, 2024
You heard it here first, Belichick is about to make an all-ACC WR out of some dude currently on the UNC lacrosse team…#ChapelBill
— Brian Jodice (@BrianJodice) December 12, 2024
One person even noted how Belichick successfully turned former Penn State lacrosse star Chris Hogan into a very impactful wide receiver during his days in New England.
Bill Belichick is going to walk by the UNC lacrosse practice scouting to see who he could turn into the next Chris Hogan
— Gavin (@gavoneill1) December 12, 2024
Bill Belichick Has His Work Cut Out For Him
While Belichick may be one of the greatest coaches in the history of the game, turning around a North Carolina program that hasn’t won a Conference Championship since 1980 won’t be easy.
The Tar Heels have had a winning conference record just once in the last three years — when Drake Maye led them to a 6-2 record and a spot in the ACC title game, where they were blown out by Clemson, 39-10.
Bill surely knows that leading North Carolina to the promised land won’t be easy, but if there’s anyone who’s up for the challenge, it’s the man who started a dynasty at Foxborough with a sixth-round quarterback.
