North Carolina's passing game destroyed the Miami Hurricanes' defense on Saturday night. It seemed like Tar Heels offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino was in his bag all night, finding gaps in the Hurricanes' defense.
Petrino's offenses have given Miami issues in the past, so those of us who know what he's capable of knew he would be a tough challenge. But if you ask Bill Belichick, finding the holes in Corey Hethermen's scheme wasn't very difficult at all because the Miami defensive coordinator didn't do much that forced Petrino and Belichick to change their plans.
Nobody's talking about this, but Bill Belichick said in his post game presser about Miami,they ran the same defense the whole game, and they've been running the same defense all year. They don't switch it up. Hopefully we see some new wrinkles for the Notre Dame game
— michael yo (@michaelyo) November 2, 2026
The full Belichick quote was based on a question about the pass rush and how Tar Heels quarterback Billy Edwards handled the pressure that Miami sent.
"They didn’t mix it up. They did what they did the whole game. They ran what they ran the whole game, which is honestly what they’ve been running the whole year. It wasn’t perfect on our part. We could have done a better job executing the play. The protection was good, but you know, we just end up holding the ball too long," Belichick said.
Miami's defense couldn't get a grip on UNC's offense
The Hurricanes sacked Edwards four times, but he escaped some pressure and made plays. Other times it seemed like Edwards had more than enough time to throw and found the open man. Miami had struggled to account for tight end Jelani Thurman, who had five catches for 70 yards and two touchdowns. The secondary did a better job with the Tar Heels No. 1 receiver, Jordan Shipp, who had four catches for 44 yards and a touchdown.
Miami's issues may not have been scheme as much as it was failure to account for Edwards finding his secondary receivers and, most importantly, tackling.
It's easy for fans to just say that Hetherman needs to "mix it up" as if they know his personnel better than he does. Miami has a ton of injuries in the secondary. OJ Frederique might not be back. Xavier Lucas is still laboring and fighting through some things. Ja'Boree Antoine may or may not play this year. And as much as the Hurricanes staff prides itself on playing young players, not every four-star recruit is made equal. Some will need more time and development than others.
Hetherman has the athletes that allow him to be a little more vanilla. When defensive coordinators are "mixing it up," it's usually because they don't have the players to run simple base defense and get where they need to be. Hetherman has the bodies and the athletes for the most part (maybe the linebackers are a little long in the tooth and limited laterally, but that's another story for another day).
And if you watched the game, it's fair to ask how many of the failures came from missed tackles in the open field? There were so many missed tackles that turned 3-yard games into 10-yard gains and, over the course of 12–15 plays, those additional yards really added up.
Did Hetherman need to make some quicker adjustments in coverage? Yes. The Hurricanes played a lot of soft coverage, and Edwards repeatedly took what he was given. But the players also have to earn Hetherman's trust that he can be a little more aggressive. More than being aggressive or "mixing it up", Hetherman has to make sure the players he has are put in the best position to be successful.
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