Blue & Gold Illustrated: America's Foremost Authority on Notre Dame Football
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BLUEGOLDONLINE.COM OCT. 3, 2026 37 GAME PREVIEW: NORTH CAROLINA interception in the final minute to seal Clemson's comeback victory. Clemson challenged Edwards with tight coverage on his targets, and it resulted in him completing just 43.3 percent of his passes (13-of-30) for 135 yards with 1 touchdown and 1 intercep- tion. Per PFF, Edwards completed just 3 passes thrown at least 10 yards beyond the line of scrimmage. The 6 incomplete passes he threw at that depth included his interception. Edwards' ability to stretch the field has been pretty limited through three games. He's completed just 13 of his 32 passes thrown 10-plus yards downfield while connecting on 31 of 40 at shorter depths. Belichick said Clemson didn't change up its strategy from the beginning of the game. That means Edwards just couldn't consistently deliver at the same rate. Knowledge and execution do not always correlate. "I think they pretty much did the same thing most of the game," Belich- ick said. "They gave us a lot of differ- ent pressures, which we expected, and mixed it up and went to some odd front. But it's what they normally do." ✦ Three Things To Know About North Carolina 1. North Carolina Is Set To Debut A New Defensive Play-Caller — And It's Not Jordon Hudson. Although Jordon Hudson, the 25-year-old girlfriend of North Carolina second-year head coach Bill Belichick, is back on the sidelines again during games and could conceivably pull off calling the defen- sive plays, that will not be the case. Belichick did keep it in the family, though. Brian Belichick, the 34-year-old son of the head coach, is set to make his official debut in that role against Notre Dame Oct. 3 in Chapel Hill, N.C. He had been serving as defensive backs/safeties coach. How did we get here? Steve Belichick, the 39-year-old son of the head coach, was set to begin his second season as UNC's defensive coordinator and play-caller when, on Aug. 6, he took medical leave. Brian Belichick reportedly assumed defensive play-calling duties with help from the defensive staff at that point. Then on Sept. 17, UNC announced Steve's resignation after an internal investigation into the football program's culture "determined that certain actions demonstrated a disregard for Carolina's values and standards of conduct." And yet he's still listed as DC on the school's football website, and ap- parently will be until the resignation takes effect when the medical leave is scheduled to end on Oct. 27. General manager Michael Lombardi also resigned under fire in September. WRAL reported in No- vember 2025 that nearly 20 percent of the roster at that time had received speeding citations since the previous October, with some also charged with reckless driving. 2. If Bill Belichick Changes His Mind About His Defensive Play-Caller, Bob Diaco Is Available. And Bob Diaco, Notre Dame's defen- sive coordinator from 2010-13, is already on North Carolina's coaching staff. The 53-year-old is in his second year as the defensive line coach with the Tar Heels after previously reuniting with former Irish head coach Brian Kelly at LSU, where he served as a senior defensive analyst, outside linebackers coach and special teams coordinator during the 2023 and 2024 seasons. Diaco won the prestigious Broyles Award, as the nation's top assistant coach, in 2012 under Kelly. He left Notre Dame for a head coaching gig at Con- necticut (2014-16), then worked as an assistant coach at four different schools from 2017-20 (Nebraska, Oklahoma, Louisiana Tech and Purdue) and served as defensive coordinator at all but Okla- homa. He was out of coaching in 2021, then re-entered the profession as the defen- sive line coach for the USFL's New Jersey Generals before moving on to LSU and Carolina. Current Irish offensive coordi- nator Mike Denbrock overlapped for one season at LSU and for four in Denbrock's second tour of duty at Notre Dame. 3. Notre Dame Continues To Pull Top Talent From North Carolina. In the 17 completed recruiting cycles in the combined Brian Kelly and Marcus Freeman coaching eras at Notre Dame, the Irish have signed 21 prospects from the Tar Heel State, eight of whom are on the current Irish roster. Two more — cornerback Xavier Hasan and long snapper Sean Kraft — have committed to Notre Dame in the 2027 class. North Carolina has produced the eighth-most Notre Dame signees among all states during the Kelly and Freeman eras. Of the eight on the current roster, four are freshmen — defensive ends Rodney Dunham and Ebenezer Ewetade, defensive back Nick Reddish and linebacker Thomas Davis Jr. The other North Carolina products are junior defensive end Bryce Young, junior wide receiver Micah Gilbert, junior tight end Jack Larsen and senior offensive guard Sullivan Absher. — Eric Hansen Former Notre Dame defensive coordinator Bob Diaco is in his second season as the Tar Heels' defensive line coach. PHOTO COURTESY NORTH CAROLINA ATHLETICS Facts & Figures NOTRE DAME AT NORTH CAROLINA Date: Oct. 3, 2026 Site: Kenan Memorial Stadium (50,500) Kickoff: 12 p.m. Television: ESPN Radio: This game can be heard on Notre Dame IMG affiliates. Series Facts: Notre Dame leads 21-2 Head coaches: North Carolina — Bill Belich- ick (6-9, 2nd season); Notre Dame — Marcus Freeman (47-12, 5th season). Noting North Carolina: Sophomore de- fensive tackle Xavier Lewis finished Week 3 tied for the FBS lead in sacks (6.0) and in sole possession of first in tackles for loss (8.5) … North Carolina was tied for 10th in the coun- try in sacks per game after Week 3 with 3.33 … North Carolina allowed just five scores on eight red zone trips for opponents in the first three games. The Tar Heels gave up two rush- ing touchdowns and three field goals. The 62.5 percent red zone scoring allowed was tied for 11th-best in the country following Week 3 … Only 13 FBS tight ends averaged more recep- tions per game through Week 3 than North Carolina's Jelani Thurman (3.67).