Bill Belichick usually avoids talking about regrets when discussing his coaching career. It’s also hard to do that when you have six Super Bowls as the head coach. However, for the former New England HC, one game still haunts him from his NFL career, and, funnily enough, it didn’t come while coaching the Patriots.

“Oh yeah, that was yeah, we’re down, we’re down 42 to 7 with 10 minutes to go in the second quarter,” Belichick said on Pardon My Take while talking about the 2011 Pro Bowl, in which he was in charge of the AFC side of things. “I mean, it’s impossible to give up 42 points in 20 minutes. Oh, we got a strip sack, we fumbled, Walker’s fumble got stripped, and we ran it back for a touchdown. I think they returned an interception and a fumble, and maybe there might have been a kick return from there somewhere.”

“And we scored like 14 points. I mean, it wasn’t like 42 to nothing. It was 42 to 7, 42 to 14, or something like that. But I’m looking up there, and it’s 42 points, and we’re not even halfway through the second quarter. I’m thinking to myself, all right, three times 42 guys score 120 points at the rate we’re going.”

The NFC overwhelmed the Bill Belichick-led AFC squad, piling on points in a stunning 55-41 defeat. This turned what many expected to be a showcase of elite coaching into one of the most frustrating moments of Belichick’s storied career. Despite featuring some of the league’s biggest stars, the AFC struggled badly, allowing explosive plays throughout the game while the NFC dictated the tempo from start to finish.

Eric Sollenberger, the host of PFT, jokingly spoke with Belichick about the game, expressing his views without sounding rude.

“Yeah, I mean, I don’t want to say poor coaching, but I mean, you look at the film, and you can’t help but notice that. And then.” In his own way, Coach Belichick did not hesitate to take full responsibility for his mistakes.

“That was bad. It was bad. Yeah, so then we get into them going into halftime. And you know, the pro likes nobody says anything, right? But I mean, I was pis-ed off. Like, I started screaming. And we’re walking back out, and like four or five players are like, ‘You know, coach, I’ve never heard anybody swear at a Pro Bowl game.’ I said, ‘Well, the way you as-holes are playing, like, honestly, you deserve it.’ And he goes, ‘Yeah, I know, we definitely deserve it. But, like, you know, just never heard a coach get upset about a Pro Bowl.’ That was a bad, bad day.”

In the first half, the AFC was a mess. They had four consecutive turnovers. In fact, two of the turnovers happened because of DeAngelo Hall, who was the dominant player on the defense for the Washington Redskins. In the middle of the second quarter, the game had already become very ugly, as the AFC found themselves trailing by 42-0 to the NFC.

Even though Tom Brady was not in the mix, the Patriots still tried to make their presence felt. Wes Welker, one of seven New England Patriots players who suited up in Hawaii, finished with five catches for 34 yards, handling an impressive workload in a game where the team usually spreads touches among nearly everyone on the roster. But it was still a Pro Bowl, and over the years, the quality of the game has only deteriorated. Now, the league doesn’t even have a head coach who cares as Belichick did.

Belichick now needs to get UNC players to care

It was a very short-lived period of hype and hope about Bill Belichick coming to Chapel Hill. His first season in North Carolina was nothing like the one fans had expected. Many believed the former New England Patriots dynasty architect could instantly transform UNC into an ACC contender. Instead, Belichick’s first year in college football turned into a difficult transition season.

UNC finished the 2025 campaign with a disappointing 4-8 overall record and went 2-6 in ACC play, missing out on a bowl game. However, coaching college ball was never going to be easy. But heading into the 2026 season, Coach Belichick has had the time to build his own roster. He got a number of players from the portal, and the Tar Heels also welcomed an impressive freshman class.

While the ACC Championship may still be a distant dream, seven wins shouldn’t be that big of an ask from Belichick in his second year at the program.