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Not all college football players are happy about eating their vegetables. But Bill Belichick’s team at North Carolina has found ways to make sure its players are.
With precise food science that requires cutting vegetables into “micro” pieces, or even adding extra grains and vitamins into the batter used to fry chicken, the staff takes every liberties to gain a competitive edge in the dining room. UNC’s nutrition, hydration and training strategy has become more critical than ever as the team looks to make a leap into sophomore year, as each player has a specific strategy tailored to them and their biology.
The strategy even includes a contingency plan for when the team is on the road, sometimes in places where access to anything other than fast food is limited. Public records show the team spent $129,644.38 at vendors classified as fast food or fast casual during the 2025 season, but head nutritionist Amber Rinestine-Ressa claimed there was a scientific method behind those transactions.
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Head coach Bill Belichick of the North Carolina Tar Heels watches from the sidelines during the first half against the TCU Horned Frogs at Kenan Stadium in Chapel Hill, North Carolina on September 1, 2025. (Jared C. Tilton/Getty Images)
UNC football chief Josh Grimes was the executive chef of the New England Patriots under Belichick from 2018-24. When they came to UNC last year, they recalibrated the nutrition strategy, an NFL-style approach, and Belichick says it’s aligned with the core goals of Tom Brady’s nutrition approach.
“In New England, we had a lot of components and some of Tom’s stuff was definitely important,” Belichick told PK Press Club Digital.
“In the NFL, we trained a lot of players that were much older than our players here, and so some of the things that Tom did have more application than the older players. But fundamentally, good nutrition, good hydration, flexibility of muscle tissue, etc. are fundamentally good things that Tom worked with and that we embrace as well.”
For UNC and its players, the strategy may also have implications for the NFL Draft.
“When you watch an NFL performance. Everything is important and everything that leads up to your performance is important. So preparation, training, nutrition, hydration, technique, fundamentals, it all adds up,” Belichick said about whether he had ever looked at a college player’s diet and nutrition program when drafting for the NFL.
Prepare trick games
Nutrition Director Amber Rhinestine-Ressa and Grimes aim to prepare foods that players actually want to eat in order to entice them to eat in the team cafeteria and not outside. They do this by prioritizing flavor and working on nutrition from there.
“If they don’t change for me, I have to change my approach for all of them,” Rhinestine-Ressa said.
“We don’t live in a perfect world, and to create buy-in, I have to be a little indulgent… 80% of our diet is good-for-us foods.”
Of the remaining 20%: “Would we rather eat brown rice or a piece of bread?” Well, brown rice may have more fiber, but what does our day look like? Okay, then, maybe we could eat this piece of bread.
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She admitted that some players have a harder time eating their vegetables than others.
“Some of these kids come in and see a whole green bean, not a canned green bean, and they’re not receptive to it,” she said. “A lot of guys come here and they have a very small box.”
Once they’ve determined the type of food players want to eat, next comes the “stealth” games to make it as healthy as possible.
“Anywhere we can manipulate an ingredient to make it taste good, but they don’t know it, we know it,” Grimes said.
The kitchen micro-dices the vegetables into barely perceptible pieces and mixes them in several dishes, with quinoa, to boost the vitamin value.
The nutrition team even has a way to manipulate the batter to fry things like chicken, Grimes said thanks to a combination of whole wheat flower and avocado oil.
“We kind of use the fried stuff as a kind of strategy, morale booster. Like, we try to keep them happy,” the chef said.
Grimes said he gave players a suggestion box when creating the menu, and the number one suggested dish that came back was oxtail. As a result, Oxtail has become a recurring favorite in the team cafe and a staff essential.
Leslie Bonci, former head dietitian for the Kansas City Chiefs, used similar strategies when preparing food to keep the Chiefs healthy through the start of the Patrick Mahomes era and through their first two Super Bowls of the last decade.
“Hide the health. Start with what’s familiar, then amplify the nutrition for intuition in the kitchen,” Bonci told PK Press Club Digital in response to UNC’s strategies.
Cheat games
Rinestine-Ressa’s college credit card statements, during the 2025 season and training camp (July 1 to December 4), were obtained by PK Press Club Digital through a public records request.
Of the $129,644.38 spent on fast food or fast casual, the team spent the most money at Al’s Burger Shack, at $15,803.
“Al’s Burgers, they use 90-10 meats with me,” Rinestine-Ressa said, adding that they often bought the burger restaurant for post-game meals last season, for up to 260 people. “So I can influence what they use because we buy it in large quantities.”
Chick Fil-A finished second with $13,092.03.
“Chick Fil-A isn’t over until we’re about to get on a plane, because it’s heavy, they’re about to get on a plane, they’re about to sleep and we don’t have any activities for the rest of the day. So I really don’t care.”
Jersey Mike’s was third with $12,613.51 and Mission BBQ was fourth with $12,598.52. Other major reporting expenses were at popular national chains like Zaxby’s, Moe’s Southwest Grill, Dave’s Hot Chicken, CAVA and Panera Bread.
Yet there were no transactions for US fast food products McDonald’s, Wendy’s, Burger King, KFC or Taco Bell. This is where Rinestine-Ressa draws the line.
“No, they’re a definite no, because I can’t manipulate them, I can manipulate any other place,” she said.
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As UNC looks to improve to 4-8 from 2025, it will rely on the creativity and discipline of its chefs and nutritionists to ensure players have the fuel to do their jobs.
