Paul Finebaum doesn't believe UNC Tar Heels head coach Bill Belichick could achieve what Colorado Buffaloes coach Deion Sanders did in the college football world.
Paul Finebaum doesn’t believe the “Chapel Bill” is going to take the college football world like “Prime Time” did last season.
Finebaum put the UNC Tar Heels’ ceiling at eight wins for the 2025 season. The SEC Network talking head also claimed that North Carolina can’t achieve what the Colorado Buffaloes did with Shedeur Sanders under center and Heisman winner Travis Hunter playing NFL starter-level football at corner and receiver.
“They are very low for this reason. He doesn’t have a very good team, although he’s in a workable league. I think he can win seven games, maybe steal one to go eight. But, ladies and gentlemen, this is not Deion Sanders coming back to college. For a couple of obvious reasons, Shedeur Sanders and Travis Hunter? He doesn’t have anyone like that. Therefore, the eyes of the nation will be there on opening night, maybe a second or third time, but it’s not going to be must-see TV,” Finebaum said on ESPN’s “Get Up.”
Finebaum shared a bold take during the rant: Belichick should’ve been fired by the New England Patriots long before the two sides moved on.
“And, as far as Bill Belichick? You know the NFL better than me but I can read, I followed his career. The end of his career was a disaster. He didn’t win a playoff game in his last five seasons. He had losing seasons three of the last five. It was a mess at the end. He should have been fired earlier than he was. This is just trying to make good, trying to impress his girlfriend, he’s trying to make some money and, ultimately, I don’t think it’s going to work.”
Of course, CU was a four-win failure before becoming a nine-win success story last year. Deion Sanders staged a historic overhaul of the 2022 roster he inherited from the remains of the Karl Dorrell era.
Still, Coach Prime was, and still is, a neophyte compared to the six-time Super Bowl champion head coach Belichick. In Chapel Hill, there’s an expectation to turn things around from the end of the Mack Brown era immediately.
Belichick doesn’t have the talent to achieve that this season. We’ll see if he has the recruiting chops to turn it around in 2026 or if this Jordon Hudson-fueled soap opera isn’t long for UNC.
Category: General Sports
