ESPN To Host College Football Countdown Show Live From Chapel Hill Before Belichick’s Debut Labor Day Night
July 24, 2025 | Football
College football's biggest stage heads to Chapel Hill on Labor Day night, as ESPN will host a special one-hour College Football Countdown studio show live from Kenan Stadium on Monday, Sept. 1, prior to eight-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick's highly-anticipated debut with the Tar Heels. The Labor Day special will air live from 7-8 p.m. ET on ESPN from the sidelines before the Tar Heels take on the TCU Horned Frogs for their season opener.
Matt Barrie will host the show and be joined by analysts Tedy Bruschi, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban, and college football insider Pete Thamel. Bruschi played his entire 13 season NFL career – winning three Super Bowls – under Belichick with the New England Patriots, while Saban spent four seasons (1991-94) under the tutelage as a defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Brown. Belichick is a frequent guest and friend of the program on The Pat McAfee Show during the football season.
Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit will call the game at 8 p.m. on ESPN, while Barrie and Howard will have halftime coverage from Kenan Stadium. The Monday night marquee showdown concludes ESPN's industry-leading Week 1 college football coverage.
Additional details surrounding ESPN's college football kickoff will be announced in the coming weeks and can be found HERE.
The first Monday night regular-season game in Carolina history will mark the fourth matchup on the gridiron between the Tar Heels and the Horned Frogs, having played in 1940, 1994 and 1997.
TCU is led by Sonny Dykes, who enters his fourth season in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs made the College Football Playoff in 2022 and advanced to the National Championship Game after defeating Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal.
With a little more than a month to go before the start of the 2025 Carolina football season, all tickets (season and single game) at Kenan Stadium are sold out.
Fans who want to watch the Tar Heels at home this season should visit SeatGeek, the official marketplace of Carolina Athletics.
Click here to purchase tickets from SeatGeek.
Purchasing tickets through SeatGeek is the easiest and safest way to purchase tickets to sold out UNC events. The integrated partnership ensures that all transactions are verified through Carolina and allows the UNC Athletics Ticket Office to provide a level of customer service that is not available to customers who purchase from other marketplaces.
Matt Barrie will host the show and be joined by analysts Tedy Bruschi, Desmond Howard, Pat McAfee and Nick Saban, and college football insider Pete Thamel. Bruschi played his entire 13 season NFL career – winning three Super Bowls – under Belichick with the New England Patriots, while Saban spent four seasons (1991-94) under the tutelage as a defensive coordinator with the Cleveland Brown. Belichick is a frequent guest and friend of the program on The Pat McAfee Show during the football season.
Rece Davis and Kirk Herbstreit will call the game at 8 p.m. on ESPN, while Barrie and Howard will have halftime coverage from Kenan Stadium. The Monday night marquee showdown concludes ESPN's industry-leading Week 1 college football coverage.
Additional details surrounding ESPN's college football kickoff will be announced in the coming weeks and can be found HERE.
The first Monday night regular-season game in Carolina history will mark the fourth matchup on the gridiron between the Tar Heels and the Horned Frogs, having played in 1940, 1994 and 1997.
TCU is led by Sonny Dykes, who enters his fourth season in Fort Worth. The Horned Frogs made the College Football Playoff in 2022 and advanced to the National Championship Game after defeating Michigan in the Fiesta Bowl semifinal.
With a little more than a month to go before the start of the 2025 Carolina football season, all tickets (season and single game) at Kenan Stadium are sold out.
Fans who want to watch the Tar Heels at home this season should visit SeatGeek, the official marketplace of Carolina Athletics.
Click here to purchase tickets from SeatGeek.
Purchasing tickets through SeatGeek is the easiest and safest way to purchase tickets to sold out UNC events. The integrated partnership ensures that all transactions are verified through Carolina and allows the UNC Athletics Ticket Office to provide a level of customer service that is not available to customers who purchase from other marketplaces.
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