Tough Schedule Shouldn't Change UNC Expectations - Today's Take

Inside Carolina senior reporter Greg Barnes on how the challenging football schedule impacts what Bill Belichick’s program needs to accomplish at UNC in 2026.

“We know what kind of coach Sonny Dykes is. We know what kind of coach Dabo Swinney is. And yes, Clemson had a down year last year, but that’s going to blip on what Clemson has done for a long time. We have an understanding of what Miami has been able to do the last couple years. From that standpoint, there’s value in looking at what happened last year and trying to use that as a gauge. Like Phil Steele, we’ve all looked at the schedule and believe it’s certainly going to be a lot harder than last year. To what degree remains to be seen.

“How much do expectations change with regard to the schedule? That directly corresponds with the quality of program. You think Ohio State fans care if they’re playing the No. 1 schedule in the country versus the No. 100? Those expectations do not change at all. It’s CFP or bust. Look at Carolina Basketball for years — Roy Williams always wanted to play the toughest schedule so his teams would be ready come postseason time. The expectations were at the Final Four level every year.

“I don’t like the cloak and dagger aspect. We saw a lot of that during the Mack Brown era where they won nine games against a bad schedule. You shouldn’t get medals for winning games against bad teams. It should be a challenge. As a fan base, if you expect North Carolina to be consistently in the Top 25 – and I think that’s a fair expectation – you need play tough schedules. 

“That’s a good thing for this program, because you can’t hide with what the schedule projects to be. You are what you are. Yes, there has to be dramatic improvement from 4-8 last year. Now that you’re playing a legitimate schedule, you still have to be better than 6-6 if you want to try to win the fan base back after what happened last year. If you can go 7-5, 8-4 against this schedule, there’s going to be a lot of hope for 2027 because it gives you some momentum.

“When you’re paying the coaching staff what they’re paying them, with Bill Belichick making $10 million as one of the highest paid coaches in America, they need to be better than 6-6, and that’s going to be a challenge.”