Heel Tough Blog: ACC Kickoff Takeaways

Jim Dedmon- Imagn Images

On Friday, the Tar Heels made their yearly venture to ACC Kickoff in Charlotte as Coach Bill Belichick, defensive end Melkart Abou-Jaoude, center Christo Kelly and wide receiver Jordan Shipp spoke to the media throughout the day. While there may not be nearly as much buzz as there was last year around the head coach and the program as a whole, there were still plenty of storylines that cropped up throughout the day. Here’s a look at the most intriguing ones that we heard in our time out at the Hilton.

Foundation and Culture Are Much Better Than a Year Ago

One of the main things that Belichick had to address on Friday afternoon was why things went so poorly and he continued to point to the amount of new faces a year ago as the reason that the team wasn’t able to establish a foundation like they planned to. This year, they feel like that foundation is in place. Despite the fact that the team will take the field with 60 new players, this is a group whose major contributors have been together since the winter time and it feels like that time together is paying off. Shipp admitted to the media that this group is much closer than a year ago where we heard reports of players in the locker room butting heads and that makes sense with so many new faces entering after fall camp. This year, Belichick says that the “culture and ability to operate” is at a much different place than it was a year ago and if that is the case, it will be much easier to build a foundation. If this team can prove to have a stronger base this season, they might be able to reach a bowl game and set this team up for success in 2027.

Players Are Bonding More Through Work on the Field

We have seen some of the videos of the team bonding off the field with activities like bowling and TopGolf, but it was stressed that a lot of the chemistry is being built through on the field work. Belichick mentioned in his morning presser that the team is led by the player more this season than a year ago because they were able to spend the spring with each other and develop those relationships that could carry over into the player-led practices that the team hosted over the summer. Belichick mentioned on the stand that the team didn’t even get those summer reps last year because of the lack of experience in the system that the team had, so from that standpoint the team appears to be miles ahead of where they were last year. Christo Kelly and Jordan Shipp discussed that this team specifically bonded during a running drill that strength and conditioning coach Moses Cabrera has been putting the players through this offseason and that seeing the players around them pushing themselves to their limits has built trust. The hope is that the trust and comradery will carry into the season and allow this to be a group that can navigate the season a little smoother despite having a tougher schedule.

Quarterback Race is Still Wide Open Heading Into the Fall

When it comes to the specifics of the team, the position that most were wondering about was the quarterback position where the team has another battle going this season. While reports have stated that Maryland transfer Billy Edwards Jr. and Texas A&M transfer Miles O’Neill are the two that separated themselves in the spring, Belichick pushed back, saying that four guys will battle for the role when the team opens fall camp. "There’s no leaders in the clubhouse. Everybody’s out on the course.” Hearing this might be a little concerning, but it feels like this is a little more coach speak than anything. It may be a situation where anybody could win the job, but it is likely still going to take tremendous performances from Travis Burgess and/or Au’Tori Newkirk to win the starting job. At this time, our belief is that it will come down to Edwards and O’Neill for the start in the opener over the next 43 days.

Abou Jaoude and Shipp Should Be Easy Players to Support

There might not be the star power on this team that some of the best teams in program history have boasted, but even in this era of the sport where there is so much turnover, there are a couple of players that Tar Heel fans should be very proud to support this season after what they chose to do this offseason. Both Melkart Abou Jaoude and Jordan Shipp admitted to the media during their interviews that they were approached by other schools as early as the middle of last year, but decided to stay out of loyalty to the program. "I'm a loyal person, and Carolina gave me the chance last year,” Abou Jaoude told some assembled media earlier this morning. “They gave me the platform to show what I can do, and I owe it to them to give them what I got this year." While Abou Jaoude said that he did consider a transfer at one-point this offseason, Shipp never really considered a move away from the program despite his mother, who basically serves as his agent, fielding calls in the middle of last season from other schools. These are two guys that should be fan favorites and reasons to show up to Kenan Stadium six times this season because of their loyalty to this school and program that you love so much.

Expectations for the Team Are Pretty Low This Season

This shouldn’t come as a shock after last season, but there is not a lot of hype around the Tar Heels as we sit here a little over a month away from Dublin. While taking part in radio row over the past three days, it was hard to find anyone on a local or national level that had much belief in this year being a major jump in Year 2 under Belichick. The groupthink is that this team is poised to be better than they were last year, but that it won’t be a substantial jump in large part because of the schedule. When discussing with one member of the media on Friday, we discussed the best case scenario for being 6-6, something that in most years would be seen as a disappointment but would show marked improvement for where this program is at. It hurts that we can’t be more excited about this season, but with the 13th toughest schedule nationally according to Phil Steele and questions about just how talented this roster is still lingering, it’s just the reality of where Carolina is in Year 2 of one of the most interesting experiments in college football history.