• Several new college football coaches, including Jason Eck at New Mexico and Jerry Mack at Kennesaw State, had highly successful debut seasons in 2025. • Other coaches, like Dan Mullen at UNLV and Jake Dickert at Wake Forest, also exceeded expectations and led their teams to strong records. • Bill Belichick's first season at North Carolina was a notable disappointment, with the team finishing 4-8 after six consecutive bowl appearances.

Most coaching tenures in the Bowl Subdivision can’t be fully assessed until two or three seasons down the road, when a coach has been able to fully install his system with his roster.

But first impressions matter, too, and a hot start — or a bad one — can come to define a coach’s tenure.

Bill Belichick hopes that’s not the case at North Carolina, whi

See Full Page