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By Michael Gallagher
Sports Content Coordinator
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Most expected big changes came after Bill Belichick’s dismal first season as the head coach of the North Carolina Tar Heels.
The Tar Heels went 4-8 under Belichick. Their wins came against Charlotte, Richmond, Syracuse, and Stanford — not exactly a who’s who of college football. It marked the first time since 2018 that the school didn’t qualify for a bowl game.
UNC also had three losses in one-score games — Cal (21-18), Virginia (17-16 in overtime), and Duke (32-25) — and he could just as easily finished 7-5 with some optimism toward 2026 instead of staring down the barrel of a massive coaching reshuffle.
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Those big changes started on Friday morning when two key pieces of Belichick’s inaugural UNC staff were fired, according to ESPN’s Pete Thamel.
“UNC has fired STC Mike Priefer, per ESPN sources,” Thamel wrote. “And sources also confirm the firing of OC Freddie Kitchens.”
Kitchens was a holdover from Mack Brown’s staff the previous year. He served as the tight ends coach and run-game coordinator under Brown, and was named interim head coach once he was fired. Kitchens spent one season as the Cleveland Browns head coach in 2019.
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Under Kitchens, North Carolina had one of the worst offenses in the country. The Tar Heels ranked 131st out of 136 FBS teams in total offense, 121st in scoring offense (19.3 points per game), 119th in red-zone offense (77.1% scoring rate), and they scored the eighth-fewest touchdowns all season (25).
UNC was held to 14 or fewer points four times, 20 or fewer points eight times, and the team scored more than 20 points just three times.
Quarterback Gio Lopez averaged just 158 yards passing per game, and none of the team's top three running backs — Demon June (464 yards), Benjamin Hall (274 yards), and Davion Gause (259 yards) — established themself as a legitimate bell-cow back.
Belichick is expected to make more changes to his staff beyond these two firings.
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