Belichick’s North Carolina tenure hit by heartbreaking loss to Cal after late fumble

BERKELEY, Calif. (AP) — The The Bill Belichick era in North Carolina he had already suffered several lopsided losses. Now the Tar Heels have a heartbreaking one to go with it.

The one thing North Carolina is still looking for is its first win against a powerful opponent since the six-time Super Bowl champion coach took over the program.

After losing their first three games to Power Conference teams by an average of 29 points, the Tar Heels held strong against California on Friday night until Nathan Leacock’s goal-line fumble turned a possible touchdown late in the fourth quarter into the deciding moment of a Defeat 21-18.

“We’re getting better every week,” Belichick said. “I’m not going to back down. I think that’s true. But you can’t turn the ball over and win. It’s just too hard. We have to eliminate some of these mistakes.”

The most costly came late when it looked like the Tar Heels were poised for a comeback victory. Gio Lopez hit Leacock on a short pass and Leacock was running toward the end zone when Brent Austin hit the ball just before crossing the goal line. Austin then dove on the loose ball in the end zone to give the ball back to the Golden Bears with 3:48 left.

Cal ran almost five seconds on the ensuing drive and the Tar Heels suffered another loss.

“It wasn’t just him,” wide receiver Kobe Paysour said of Leacock. “We all had bad plays in the game, so it’s not just his fault.”

The Tar Heels also lost a fumble on the first play from scrimmage to set up a Cal touchdown, but fared much better overall running the ball and getting stops on defense.

“It might have been enough to turn the ball over, but we did it,” Belichick said. “And we didn’t have any turnovers on defense, so until that changes, it’s kind of an uphill battle.”

Belichick, 73, is in the first year of a deal that guarantees $10 million in base and supplemental salary for each of the next two seasons. The team’s general manager, Michael Lombardi, a former NFL executive who is largely Belichick’s partner in this college venture, will earn $1.5 million for each of the next two seasons.

The speech on construction the “33rd” NFL team with an NFL-style approach in college did not generate positive results, with the team’s only wins coming against lower-tier Richmond and Charlotte.

Belichick’s short tenure at North Carolina brought a focus on events off the field, including his relationship with his 24-year-old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, which generated chants of “high school girlfriend!” » from the Cal student section during the game.

There was also a planned documentary that was canceled, the suspension of an assistant coach and a report that Belichick was seeking an exit strategy from coaching North Carolina that he had to address in a statement last week and at a news conference earlier this week.

Then came another report that Lombardi traveled to Saudi Arabia over the summer where he met with a “Saudi national who is a college football fan, interested in supporting Coach Belichick,” according to the school.

“I’m just going to talk about the game here,” Belichick said when asked about it. “I’m just focused on the game. I’m not going to worry about all that.”

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