When North Carolina and UCF meet Saturday afternoon in Orlando, Fla., it will be a reunion for head coaches Bill Belichick and Scott Frost.
Frost was a player with the New York Jets in the late 1990s. At the time, Belichick was the defensive coordinator.
The two talked about that familiarity with each other earlier this week.
“Yeah, I was with Bill for two years. You know, I can’t say enough about how intelligent he is, and how much football he knows,” said Frost, now the coach coach at UCF. “And that was before he went on a run as a head coach. So a tremendous amount of respect for what he’s accomplished in the game.”
Belichick, best known for being at the helm of the New England Patriots’ dynasty, is in his first year with the Tar Heels and respects Frost’s team.
“I know Scott does a good job down there, but we’ll have to gear up for what they do, and they’ve got a lot of skilled athletes,” Belichick said. “They get the ball in space, and defensively, they got some explosive guys we’re going to have to handle.”
The Knights (2-0) and Tar Heels (2-1) have both won two in a row, and something will have to give in this Big 12-ACC showdown.
Frost, in his second stint with UCF, has won 15 consecutive games as the Knights’ head coach going back to the unbeaten 2017 season.
UCF’s offense is cranking out 491 yards per game and quarterback Tayven Jackson has made strides since taking over for Cam Francher. Francher was injured in the opener against Jacksonville State, and while he’s cleared to practice and play, his status for Saturday has yet to be determined.
The Knights will be up against a North Carolina defense that has been strong lately, allowing nine points in the last two games and holding opponents to a combined 145 yards on the ground.
UNC has held opponents without a touchdown in consecutive games for the first time since 2012 and Mikai Gbayor was named the ACC Linebacker of the Week. He recorded six tackles and a strip sack in a 41-6 win over Richmond. The Missouri transfer and two-year Nebraska letterman has tallied 16 tackles this season.
UCF and UNC were supposed to play in 2018 and 2020, but a hurricane canceled the first game and the pandemic wiped out the second.
