ESPN Hosts Live Countdown From Chapel Hill Ahead Belichick UNC Debut

ESPN will broadcast a special one-hour College Football Countdown show live from Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill on Labor Day evening, September 1, ahead of the North Carolina Tar Heels' season opener against the TCU Horned Frogs. This game is notably the first Monday night regular-season game in UNC history and marks Bill Belichick's debut as the Tar Heels' head coach, generating significant excitement among fans, with all season tickets sold out. The pregame show, airing from 7-8 p.m. ET, will be hosted by Matt Barrie and feature analysts Tedy Bruschi, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee, Nick Saban, and ESPN insider Pete Thamel, while the game commentary will be provided by Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit. Belichick, an eight-time Super Bowl champion with the New England Patriots, brings a new era to Chapel Hill football, and the matchup against TCU, a team that reached the 2022 National Championship Game, is highly anticipated. The event underscores Chapel Hill's emergence as a major college football focal point and highlights the broad interest in the program's transformation under Belichick.