UNC Students Offer Decisive Views of Bill Belichick, Hubert Davis, and Logo Change

Article by Simon Kodack, Graphics by Kaya Li

Don’t have time? Here are some quick key points:

  • UNC undergraduates starkly disapprove of Bill Belichick’s job as head football coach with an approval of just 15% to a 64% disapproval rating.
  • Undergraduates conversely hold a strong approval of Hubert Davis’ job as head basketball coach with an approval of 61% to a 17% disapproval rating.
  • Students tend to disapprove of the university’s logo change from the Old Well to the interlocked N and C with an approval of 31% to a 60% disapproval rating.
  • International students tended to be more unfamiliar of the coaches, while out-of-state students were most familiar. Similarly, out-of-state students held stronger net approvals than disapprovals, though familiarity differences may be an influence.
  • Upperclassmen and underclassmen held similar approvals of Belichick. Upperclassmen, however, held greater disapproval of Davis than underclassmen. Familiarity differences may be an influence.

In a poll of Chapel Hill’s undergraduates, UNC’s head-football coach Bill Belichick faces widespread disapproval among students, contrasting the widespread approval of head-basketball coach Hubert Davis.

A recent poll conducted by the Public Opinion Research Group from Nov. 21st, 2025 through Jan. 16th, 2026 surveyed 208 undergraduate students, finding large differences in approval and disapproval ratings of both sports coaches (Figure 1).

Bill Belichick begins the year with a mere 15% approval rating among undergraduates familiar of the coaches, a sharp contrast to Hubert Davis’ approval rating of 64%.

Disapproval for Belichick is high at 64%, while disapproval for Davis stands at 17%. This leaves Belichick at a net approval of -49%, far below Davis’ net approval of +44%.

Two side-by-side pie charts showing broad approval of Hubert Davis and broad disapproval of Bill Belichick

Figure 1. Topline approval ratings of Bill Belichick and Hubert Davis of students familiar of the coaches (survey of 208 undergraduates; Nov. 21, 2025 - Jan. 16, 2026).

The University logo change from the Old Well to the interlocked N and C faces opposition by students, with just 31% of students approving compared to 60% of students disapproving. This provides a net approval of -29%, indicating more division among students than the coach approvals while still facing strong backlash (Figure 2).

A pie chart showing moderate disapproval for the UNC logo change

Figure 2. Topline approval rating of UNC logo change (survey of 208 undergraduates; Nov. 21, 2025 - Jan. 16, 2026).

Crosstabs reveal differing levels of familiarity and approval of the sports coaches. These results were based on all students surveyed, including those unfamiliar of the coaches, meaning these may not align perfectly with topline results.

  • Out-of-state students offered greater approval of Belichick (21% approval to 58% disapproval; net approval -37%) than in-state students (13% approval to 60% disapproval; net approval -47%). However, out-of-state students tended to be more familiar of the coach (Figure 3).
  • The same was true of Hubert Davis, with out-of-state students giving a greater approval (61% approval to 15% disapproval; net approval +46%) than in-state students (51% approval to 14% disapproval; net approval +37%) of the basketball coach. Similar to Belichick, however, out-of-state students tended to be more familiar of the coach (Figure 3).
  • International students offer much lower approvals of both coaches, with 10% approval to 38% disapproval of Belichick, and 29% approval to 5% disapproval of Davis. These large differences are owed to the large portion of international students unfamiliar to the coaches, with 33% and 52% being unfamiliar to Belichick and Davis, respectively (Figure 3)
A bar chart showing higher familiarity with the UNC Sports coaches among non-international students

Figure 3. Crosstabs by student in-state vs. out-of-state vs. international status for Belichick and Davis recognition (survey of 208 undergraduates; Nov. 21, 2025 - Jan. 16, 2026).

Crosstabs further revealed differences in approvals of the coaches based on the age of the undergraduates (Figure 4).

  • Both approvals and disapprovals for Belichick were higher among upperclassmen (started attending Carolina in 2023 or earlier) than underclassmen (2024 and later), though with similar net approvals. Upperclassmen disapproved of Belichick 60.7% to 17.9% with a net approval of -42.8% while underclassmen disapproved of Belichick 55.3% to 13.2% with a net approval of -42.1%.
  • Upperclassmen had a higher disapproval, but similar approval, to Hubert Davis as underclassmen. Upperclassmen approved of Davis 50% to 19.6% with a net approval of +30.4%, while underclassmen approved of Davis 49.3% to 11.2% with a net approval of +38.1%.
Four bar charts showing relatively similar approvals between upperclassmen and underclassmen

Figure 4. Approval ratings of Bill Belichick and Hubert Davis among undergraduates familiar with the coaches, based on the year the students began attending UNC-CH (survey of 208 undergraduates; Nov. 21, 2025 - Jan. 16, 2026).