North Carolina DC Steve Belichick expected to miss Week 0 game amid ongoing leave
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North Carolina defensive coordinator Steve Belichick isn’t expected to be with the Tar Heels for Saturday’s Week 0 showdown against TCU in Dublin as he continues his indefinite medical leave.
Belichick’s expected absence from the 2026 season opener was reported on Thursday morning by On3’s Pete Nakos as well as Inside Carolina. The 39-year-old son of North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick has been on indefinite medical leave since early August, and now his leave is apparently creeping into the start of the regular season as the Tar Heels head to Ireland for a nationally televised season opener to start Year 2 of the Belichick era in Chapel Hill.
UNC and TCU will kick things off at noon ET on Saturday from Dublin, with ESPN televising the annual matchup that signals the start of a new college football season. The younger Belichick apparently will not be part of the trip or the game itself, with On3 also reporting that Bill Belichick and defensive line coach Bob Diaco have been working together on the defensive gameplan in Steve Belichick’s absence.
Bill Belichick is expected to handle UNC’s defensive play-calling duties against TCU.
The On3 report also said that North Carolina hasn’t responded to On3’s request for comment on the situation. During a press conference earlier this week, Bill Belichick “dismissed attempts” to talk about his son’s absence and how it might affect the defensive play-calling.
Steve Belichick was placed on leave on Aug. 6, and since then there have been no details provided regarding his absence.
The younger Belichick began his tenure as North Carolina defensive coordinator last year, with his father taking over as head coach of the Tar Heels at the same time. Steve Belichick was the defensive coordinator at Washington in 2024 and before that served in many roles as a defensive assistant for the New England Patriots from 2012-23.
Bill Belichick, of course, was the mastermind behind the Patriots’ dynasty this century as head coach, so father and son have been intertwined for many years now, at the NFL level and now at the college level.
Cory Nightingale, a former sportswriter and sports editor at the Miami Herald and Palm Beach Post, is a South Florida-based freelance writer who covers Alabama for SaturdayDownSouth.com.
