Really, who could blame them for wanting to play for a six-time Super Bowl-winning coach?
One by one, linebacker Khmori House, cornerback Thaddeus Dixon, safety Peyton Waters and wide receiver Jason Robinson Jr. exited the University of Washington following last football season, entered the transfer portal and ended up together at North Carolina for the same reason.
They naturally were caught up in the excitement of Bill Belichick taking over as coach of the Atlantic Coast Conference program and of them having the opportunity to play for one of the best in American football history.
Well, five games into the Belichick coaching residence in Chapel Hill — or Chapel Bill, as some like to call it — there has been nothing to feel good about. The team in the powder blue uniforms keeps getting powdered. The Tar Heels are always back on their heels.
It’s embarrassing, if not shocking, with what’s taken place, with no ready solution to fix it.
“I don’t fault the players; I fault the leadership that created this toxic environment. There’s an individualistic mindset. The boys are young, and they are feeding into it.”
A look into why the “greatest coach of all time” has turned #UNC into one of the worst teams in FBS https://t.co/82buMimifj pic.twitter.com/UfNQf8sLyo
— Pat Welter WRAL (@PatrickWelter) October 7, 2025
On Saturday, North Carolina (2-3 overall, 0-1 ACC) suffered a lopsided 38-10 defeat to Clemson to open conference play, this coming after previous 34-9 and 48-14 beatdowns handed out by Central Florida and TCU, respectively.
People are beating up on Bill and his players with great regularity, rather than cowering in their presence. These Belichick boys won’t be getting any rings soon.
Thaddeus Dixon of North Carolina (1) gets left behind as TCU’s Kevorian Barnes (2) scores a touchdown in the opener. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
House and Dixon, former UW starters, have opened all five North Carolina games so far and are legitimate players who could have stayed in Montlake and continued to flourish.
A 6-foot, 215-pound sophomore from Pasadena, California, House shares the team lead in tackles with 29, which includes 1.5 tackles for loss, and has 3 quarterback hurries.
Dixon, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound senior from Los Angeles, has accumulated 14 tackles, including a pair of TFLs, and has 3 pass break-ups.
Then there’s Waters, a 6-foot-1, 195-pound sophomore from Northridge, California, who has appeared in four games largely on special teams and has 3 tackles.
Peyton Waters waits for his turn in 2024 UW spring drills. / Skylar Lin Visuals
Robinson, a rather slender 5-foot-10, 150-pound redshirt freshman from Long Beach, California, still hasn’t got into a college game at either the UW or UNC and probably needs a bigger body to make that happen.
This can’t be what any of them signed up for.
Bad losses.
No defense to speak of.
Belichick’s 24-year-old girl friend, who’s not much older than the players, always hovering on the sideline, causing a distraction.
It’s an experiment that clearly hasn’t worked, with Belichick, 73, returning to football but not in the NFL, and finding out he has no cache in the college game.
Jason Robinson runs through a 2024 UW receiving drill. / Skylar Lin Visuals
Two of his sons work on his coaching staff in former UW defensive coordinator Steve Belichick, who holds down the same job for the Tar Heels, and Brian Belichick, who’s directing the North Carolina safeties.
Steve’s defense has been particularly awful, giving up 373.2 yards and 25.8 points per outing, and that includes his brother Brian’s contribution to the secondary.
On Saturday before the first half was in the books, North Carolina had given up touchdown passes of 75, 35, 45, 23 and 8 yards to Clemson.
Here’s wondering if any of these former Huskies — with all but Dixon holding future eligibility — would want to come back to their previous stop?
The UW, or anywhere else for that matter, must look pretty good to them right about now.
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