UNC’s Newmark on Tar Heels' football program: ‘We’re on the right trajectory’

AMELIA ISLAND, Fla. — In six weeks, North Carolina’s Steve Newmark’s official title gets a lot shorter — and his job a lot bigger.

Newmark, UNC’s executive associate athletics director, will become the university’s athletics director on July 1, succeeding longtime AD Bubba Cunningham.

Newmark sat down with WRAL on Wednesday at the ACC spring meetings for a wide-ranging conversation and among the topics was the state of the Tar Heels’ football team entering its second season under NFL coaching legend Bill Belichick.

The Tar Heels went 4-8 in Belichick’s first season, which began with overwhelming excitement and, perhaps, unrealistic expectations. There is considerably less hype entering this season, but Newmark is optimistic that Belichick — who won eight Super Bowls in the NFL, including six as a head coach — will get the program on solid footing.

“When you get to see him operate on a day-to-day basis, he is maniacally focused on the details and he also cares very deeply for the kids,” Newmark said. “He’s trying to figure out how to make them better, how to reach their potential. That’s why he was so successful in the pros. You can actually see, when you watch them operate, you see how that works and how it translated to such success at the professional level.”

The Tar Heels have just 15 players remaining from Mack Brown’s final team in 2024. Belichick replaced offensive coordinator Freddie Kitchens, one of the few holderovers from Brown’s final staff, with Bobby Petrino, a former college and NFL head coach with a long history of producing high-octane offense.

The quarterback room has changed over with last year’s starter Gio Lopez, backup Max Johnson and touted recruit Bryce Baker leaving the program. UNC added transfers Billy Edwards Jr., Miles O’Neill and Taron Dickens along with freshman Travis Burgess to holdover Au’Tori Newkirk.

“There’s no doubt that whenever you have a program turn, leadership change, there is an adjustment period and an adaptation,” Newmark said. “I think the general rule is it takes a couple years for schools when they have a leadership change, particularly in the football space because of the number of kids on the team – we’ve got 105 — that they need to come in and put their stamp, make sure they bring in players that are suitable for their system. I think that’s what we’re looking at.”

The Tar Heels are betting big on a huge freshman class, signing nearly 40 high schoolers. Most of them enrolled in January and participated in spring practice. Unlike last season, when there was a second transfer portal window after spring practice for players, the players that were on the team in the spring will be there when fall camp opens. 

UNC begins its season against TCU in Ireland on Aug. 29. It could be an early indicator of the team’s progress. TCU defeated UNC 48-14 in Belichick’s first game — a sold-out primetime contest that aired nationally on ESPN.

“I think we’re optimistic where we’re going,” Newmark said. “I like the way that they’re trying to build it. We understand we’re in a performance-based sport. Coach Belichick would be the first to say that. But we feel like we’re on the right trajectory. We need to continue to show what Coach Belichick continually refers to as continuous improvement.”

That improvement is measured on gamedays, especially with a coach who was brought in to win immediately. Belichick, who turned 74 last month, signed a five-year, $50-million contract with the Tar Heels. The first three seasons are guaranteed.

“At the end of the day, we want to win,” Newmark said. “That’s why you put these programs out there. That’s the ultimate goal when you’re talking about the on-field performance. Obviously last year we didn’t get enough wins. We didn’t get as many wins as we’d like. Obviously had a couple fumbles on the goal line that turned a few of those games, but that’s sports and we need to figure out a way to get on the right end of that.”

UNC lost games to Cal and Virginia, in part, due to fumbles as they were going into score. Change those two outcomes, finish 6-6 and reach a bowl game and perhaps the narrative is a bit different.

There’s already been a lot of change in the athletics department with Brown and basketball coach Hubert Davis, beloved figures at UNC in their own ways, out. Plans for a new basketball arena have been paused due to backlash among influential figures. Cunningham is out. Newmark is in.

Newmark was a member of the search committee that hired Belichick. He joined the university later and will have served alongside Cunningham for nine months when he takes over. Newmark played a big role in the decision to hire men’s basketball coach Michael Malone. In some ways, before he’s officially been promoted to athletics director, he’s helped make two of the biggest hires of his tenure.

“I don’t think that wins and losses are the sole barometer, particularly in college sports,” Newmark said. “You want to see improvement, as I mentioned, as we go through the season, and I’m confident we’ll do that. They’re building a program, and I think you have to give coaches time to be able to do that.”