Football and service. Two institutions that demand grit, discipline, and sacrifice. And on Veterans Day, UNC football decided to bring those worlds together under one roof. Inside the Kenan Football Center, a new “Honoring Our Military” wall now immortalizes Tar Heels who wore cleats, headsets, and combat boots, including one very familiar name: Bill Belichick’s father.

“This memorial honors those who not only represented the Tar Heel football program but also defended the freedoms we all enjoy,” Bill Belichick said in a UNC release. But the main buzz started on X with WRAL’s Pat Welter post. “Bill Belichick and UNC football unveiling its new mural honoring members of the program that have served in the military. Mike Priefer and Trent Baker have served on the current staff. Bill’s father will be added to the mural as well which is a research work in progress.”

For the UNC HC, the ceremony was more than a university gesture; it was personal. Bill Belichick’s father, Steve Belichick, a former Tar Heel assistant coach from 1953 to 1955, had enlisted in the Navy right after the Pearl Harbor attack in 1941. “My dad played for the Detroit Lions in 1941, and that was his rookie year,” he said. “And then Pearl Harbor, December 7th. So he enlisted in the Navy and went to Great Lakes, in the Great Lakes football program up there, and their training program. So when he got finished, he came in as a lieutenant, as an officer, not as an enlisted man.”

It’s a lineage built on duty, discipline, and football. Those are three values Bill Belichick himself has carried to every sideline he’s ever commanded. But the story didn’t stop there. Bill Belichick, ever the historian, used the moment to reflect on how World War II actually changed football forever. “World War II was the explosion for football, college, and pro,” he said. “In terms of ideas, networking, communication, and it became more of a national instead of a regional sport.”

It’s vintage Bill Belichick turning a personal moment into a history lesson. And yet, it lands differently when his own father is part of that very history. Moreover, Chancellor Lee H. Roberts echoed the sentiment, calling it “the University’s enduring values of service and honor.” And among those honored are two current staff members.

A living tribute to two of Bill Belichick’s staffers

The “Honoring Our Military” wall lists 61 Tar Heel football alumni who served in the U.S. Armed Forces. The names remain listed with their department, tenure, football role, and time at UNC, forming a comprehensive record of courage. Two current Tar Heel staffers, special teams coordinator Mike Priefer, a Naval Academy graduate who served eight years, and assistant sports performance director Trent Baker, a former Navy SEAL with over two decades of service, had their names added to the wall. 

 “I’m deeply honored and humbled to be part of this memorial,” Mike Priefer said. “I love this country and was proud to serve. I am also excited to be back in Chapel Hill to help Coach Belichick bring an ACC Championship to this great university.” Trent Baker added, “I am humbled to be a part of the UNCS football’s Honoring Out Military Wall. Tar Heel football and our nation’s military history are inextricably linked, and I hope the stories embedded in this wall get told for generations to come.”

The Kenan Football Center Hall of Honor, already steeped in Carolina football tradition, now holds something deeper. It’s a lasting testament to the fact that teamwork, discipline, and sacrifice endure long after the final whistle. This wall teaches the present and inspires the future.

Because at Chapel Hill, some heroes wore Carolina blue. Others wore the uniform of a nation. Thanks to this wall, none of them will ever fade into oblivion.