2025 TCU-North Carolina Football Gameday Photos

Photos by Tom C. (Midnite) Burke

(Photos above and below) Chapel Hill, North Carolina, had been abuzz for months, and particularly on Labor Day, Monday, September 1, when the University of North Carolina's new $10-million-a-year head coach, Bill "Chapel Bill" Belichick, made his collegiate head coaching debut, as his Tar Heels played the TCU Horned Frogs in Kenan Memorial Stadium, with ESPN televising the game during prime time. The Horned Frogs and their fans crashed the party, with TCU demolishing the Tar Heels 48-14.

(photos above and below) A full weekend of partying took place in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, for the Labor Day football game between the University of North Carolina and TCU. It was the fourth time in history that the two teams had met on the gridiron. The Tar Heels won the first three contests - two games in North Carolina (1940 and 1994) and one game in Fort Worth (1997). 

(photos above and below) University of North Carolina students and fans didn't particularly extend a pleasant welcome the TCU football team and its fans.

(photos above and below) The Carolina Inn in Chapel Hill was the site of a TCU tailgate, hosted by the TCU Alumni Association and the TCU Frog Club. 

Several hundred TCU fans attended the TCU tailgate that was held in the Carolina Inn prior to the TCU-North Carolina football game.

Gretchen Bouton, TCU's Deputy Athletics Director, Student Services, visits with fans at the TCU tailgate. Bouton oversees TCU's sports medicine, equipment, human performance, nutrition, student-athlete development and mental health areas. She is also the sport supervisor for indoor volleyball, beach volleyball, equestrian and triathlon.

Former TCU golfer and retired PGA professional J.J. Henry attended the TCU tailgate.

Former TCU baseball player and retired Major League Baseball (MLB) professional Matt Carpenter attended the TCU tailgate.

TCU Chancellor Emeritus Victor Boschini (middle) attended the TCU tailgate

TCU women's head basketball coach Mark Campbell (center) was a popular attendee of the TCU tailgate held prior to the TCU-North Carolina football game on Labor Day in Chapel Hill.

TCU Director of Intercollegiate Athletics Mike Buddie (right) poses for pictures with Horned Frogs fans at the TCU tailgate.

Kenan Memorial Stadium on Labor Day was the setting for the fourth-ever gridiron clash between TCU, of the Big 12,  and North Carolina, of the Atlantic Coast Conference (ACC). The stadium opened in 1927 and seats nearly 51,000 people.

ESPN televised during prime time the game between TCU and North Carolina. Much of ESPN's focus, at least early into the game, was on the collegiate coaching debut of former NFL head coach Bill Belichick. Viewership of the game reached 8.8 million.

Prior to kickoff of the TCU-North Carolina football game, ESPN announcer Kirk Herbstreit (center) walks his golden retriever Peter and greets coaches and staff members, as ESPN sideline reporter Holly Rowe looks on. Peter often joins Herbstreit at games since the death last year of the announcer’s golden retriever Ben, who was Herbstreit’s faithful traveling companion and had become a familiar sight for college football fans across the country. 

Prior to kickoff of the TCU-North Carolina football game in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, TCU head football coach Sonny Dykes (white shirt) visits with ESPN announcer Kirk Herbstreit (right).

Prior to kickoff of the TCU-North Carolina football game, North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick (center) greets fans along the North Carolina sideline as his security contingent of three North Carolina State troopers and one University of North Carolina policeman look on (the security detail reportedly is larger than the usual security detail of North Carolina Governor Josh Stein). Belichick spent much of the pregame visiting with fans and with ESPN. Belichick and TCU head football coach Sonny Dykes did not greet each other on the field prior to kickoff.

 

 

Contributing to the circus atmosphere created by the collegiate coaching debut of North Carolina head coach Bill Belichick was the attendance at the game of several celebrities, including legendary North Carolina basketball player and six-time NBA champion Michael Jordan (center) and former North Carolina head basketball coach Roy Williams (right). Other University of North Carolina icons, including two-time Olympic Gold Medalist and FIFA World Cup Winner Mia Hamm, NFL star Julius Peppers and country music singer/songwriter Chase Rice, also were in attendance. Rapper Petey Pablo, who is from Greenville, North Carolina, and whose song “Raise Up” became an anthem for North Carolina pride, was recognized before the game, with his song playing over the public address system. Belichick’s 24-year old girlfriend, Jordon Hudson was on the North Carolina sideline during pregame. She watched the game from a newly constructed suite on the west side of the stadium, sitting next to Randy Moss, who starred for New England from 2007 to 2010, during which Belichick was the Patriots' head coach.

A friendly TCU Super Frog poses for a photo with North Carolina's mascots and cheer squad members.

Early in the game between TCU and North Carolina, the Tar Heels' mascot, Rameses, was jovial, all smiles and strutting around Kenan Memorial Stadium (photo above). After TCU seized control of the game and defeated UNC 48-14, all Rameses could do was hang his head in disbelief and shame (photo below). 

TCU and North Carolina will meet in a rematch in 2026, in the Aer Lingus College Football Classic, which is scheduled to be played on August 29, in Dublin, Ireland.