CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — For most of this nightmare, Bill Belichick stood alone. That wasn’t unusual—in the NFL he was often a solitary figure on the sideline as well, alone with his play sheet. But here, as the man in the gray hoodie listened on the headset to his assistants calling plays that would fail, and as he watched his first college team get its Carolina blue ass handed to it, you wonder if he spent any of that alone time regretting the whole thing.
Starting over at age 73. Diving into a radical roster makeover with 70 new players. Competing at a talent deficit. Working with younger players. Trying to teach punters how to catch a snap and linebackers how to fill a running lane and quarterbacks how not to turn the ball over for touchdowns.
