UNC Color Guard Members Reveal Why 'Everything Feels Like It's Changing' During Bill Belichick's First Season (Exclusive) Luke ChinmanOctober 18, 2025 at 1:30 AM 0 Caleigh Crane UNC Color Guard All eyes have been on Chapel Hill, N.C.
- - UNC Color Guard Members Reveal Why 'Everything Feels Like It's Changing' During Bill Belichick's First Season (Exclusive)
Luke ChinmanOctober 18, 2025 at 1:30 AM
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Caleigh Crane
UNC Color Guard -
All eyes have been on Chapel Hill, N.C., this fall as Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick took over as head coach of UNC's football season
Three members of UNC's color guard sat down with PEOPLE to discuss why "everything feels like it's changing" this year
"Our first game was packed to the brim," says member Caroline Pilla. "Outside of Duke coming here, you don't really see that level of presence"
Things have certainly changed in Chapel Hill, N.C., since the University of North Carolina tapped former Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick to lead the college's football team.
UNC replaced the turf in its iconic Kenan Stadium with natural grass. The school invited several high-profile performing artists (including Grammy-winning rapper Ludacris) to kick off game days with an on-campus concert. And, of course, the buzz couldn't be buzzier around the former Patriots coach's two-year relationship with Jordon Hudson, who is 48 years his junior.
While the coaching shake-up hasn't yielded the most favorable results — the Tar Heels don't exactly have the impressive record this season — it has brought a new energy to Chapel Hill, energy that reverberates beyond just the players on the field.
"There is definitely a lot of excitement," UNC senior Katie Burke tells PEOPLE. "Everything feels like it's changing this year."
Burke is the co-captain of UNC Color Guard, and even if she doesn't ever touch a ball during a game, the nationwide attention on UNC's football team has had ramifications for the entire spirit squad, from where they practice to the added pressure they feel while performing.
Ella Smith
UNC Color Guard
On a Thursday afternoon, Burke and her peer color guard members, Caroline Pilla and Lenore Pratt, took a brief midterms study break to chat with PEOPLE about why Belichick's first year as head coach feels so different.
When the news broke that Belichick was named the head coach in December, the campus was taken over by anticipation — even among people who didn't really know who he was before he was appointed to the position.
"My boyfriend and all of his friends were like, 'Bill Belichick is going to be our coach,' " remembers Burke with a laugh. "I was like, 'OK.' And he was like, 'No, that's a big deal.' I didn't know who he was or the importance of it."
Pilla was studying abroad in Scotland at the time, but she says the announcement divided her flat into those who supported the decision and those who didn't. And, says Pratt, the story dominated her "entire Christmas conversation" over winter break.
As the color guard prepared for UNC's season opener against Texas Christian University on Sept. 1, there was no ignoring the effect that Belichick's presence as the coach was having in Chapel Hill. People had come from far and wide to see the spectacle, says Burke, noting that the entire town was swarmed with people — even those who didn't manage to score tickets to the sold-out game.
Caleigh Crane
UNC Color Guard
"Our first game was packed to the brim," recalls Pilla. "Outside of Duke coming here, you don't really see that level of presence."
And the spirit squad had to deliver to match the hype. (The group debuted new outfits and even incorporated LED lights into their show to mark the occasion.)
"There was a lot of preparation beforehand," says Burke, noting that many of the squad's usual procedures — including the path they walk to the stadium and where they could practice — had to be changed to accommodate the crowds and stadium's upgrades. Even as a veteran member of the team, she says, it felt like she was experiencing game day "for the first time" again.
Though UNC's football team hasn't had the blowout record some hoped they would, Burke says she's "horribly optimistic" for the rest of the season.
"You can't build a team overnight," reasons Pilla. "It might take a season."
Caleigh Crane
UNC Color Guard
But as the team works through its recent rut, Burke adds, she and the rest of the team feel even more pressure to keep spirits high in the stadium.
"The band director did have a conversation with us recently about how, if people are there for the game and the team's losing or the team's doing bad, then suddenly everything is bad. The food tastes bad, it's too hot, the bathrooms aren't clean enough," she tells PEOPLE. "We have to be very, very detail-oriented this year because if there is a lot of excitement around game day and then we end up not winning, the color guard can be the kind of positive moment within that game."
"We're there to play. We're there to entertain. We're there to be a part of the fan experience," adds Pratt. "No matter if the football team does well or not so well, that doesn't change our job."
But, insists Pilla: "Don't get us wrong — we still care if we win or lose a great deal."
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