Tag: UNC Tar Heels

A pair of UNC football wide receivers hit the transfer portal

More Tar Heels are expected to see what other opportunities are in the transfer portal.

North Carolina has been a roller coaster of a football program in the last week. They have lost players to the transfer portal, hired the greatest coach of all time in a resurgence of his career, welcomed players back from the portal, and now are losing more players to the transfer portal.

Yesterday, the team received a pair of re-commitments from offensive linemen and today, they received notice take receivers Kobe Paysour and Gavin Blackwell will test the open market and see what opportunities lie outside Chapel Hill.

Paysour spend four seasons with North Carolina and Mack Brown. He had his best year in receptions in his sophomore year catching 29 passes for 324 yards and four touchdowns.

This most recent season, he caught just 19 passes in 12 games for a career-high 330 yards averaging a career-high 17.4 yards per reception. However, he didn’t reel in a single touchdown from Jacolby Criswell.

Gavin Blackwell came to Chapel Hill in the same season that Paysour did. Blackwell had his best season in the same year as Paysour as well. He caught 18 receptions for 239 yards and a touchdown in his sophomore year.

However, last year, he was used sporadically, seeing time in just six games. He caught four passes for 43 yards this season.

While it is never a pleasant sight to see players walk away from the program, we hope to see an equal number of transfer portal players head to Chapel Hill from other universities now that Belichick is at the helm.

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Bill Belichick’s contract reveals his UNC football staff salary budget

Bill Belichick’s budget for his future UNC football staff has been revealed.

North Carolina made one of the biggest coaching hires in college football history when it inked a deal with six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick to Chapel Hill.

The terms of that massive deal for Belichick were released yesterday and can be found here.

On top of his own paycheck and incentives, UNC football also revealed the budget that it has given Belichick to create a football staff around him.

This includes assistant coaches, strength staff, support staff, and revenue sharing. Currently, Belichick has hired just two people who fit that criteria, Freddie Kitchens as an assistant coach and Michael Lombardi as football general manager.

According to the contract release, Belichick has $10 million to spend on assistant coaches salaries. It is yet to be seen who will join Belichick on the sidelines, but there is a strong assumption that at least his son, Steve Belichick, will become the defensive coordinator in place of Geoff Collins.

Belichick was awarded $5.3 million for support staff, which is where the hire of Lombari as general manager will fall, $1 million for strength staff for the football team, and $13 in an increase revenue sharing pool

North Carolina is making a strong statement that it wants to join the football frenzy, and it wants to do it sooner rather than later. Expect Belichick to drop some hefty hires in the coming weeks as well as hit the transfer portal.

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Bill Belichick coaching UNC could delay Mike Shanahan’s Hall of Fame bid

Now coaching college football, Bill Belichick will be eligible for the Pro Football Hall of Fame next year, competing with Mike Shanahan.

Bill Belichick has returned to football, but not at the professional level.

Belichick has joined the North Carolina Tar Heels as their new head football coach, which means he’ll be two years removed from coaching in the NFL when the Pro Football Hall of Fame names a coach finalist in 2025.

Earlier this year, the Hall of Fame changed its eligibility rules and former NFL coaches now have to be just one year removed from coaching at the pro level to be eligible for Canton. That means Belichick will be eligible for the Hall of Fame when the committee elects the 2026 class next year, as the Denver Gazette‘s Chris Tomasson confirmed earlier this week.

That’s bad news for former Broncos coach Mike Shanahan, who was overlooked by voters again this year in favor of Mike Holmgren (who Shanahan beat in Super Bowl XXXII). Now Shanahan will have to compete against Belichick next year, and with Andy Reid set to turn 67 years old next offseason, there might be more competition in the coach category soon.

Eventually, Shanahan will reach the Hall of Fame. It’s unfortunate that he’s been overlooked this long, and Belichick’s candidacy will likely delay Shanahan’s bid even longer, but he should reach Canton one day.

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Two UNC football starters return from portal after team hires Bill Belichick

Two Tar Heels starters from last season removed their name from the portal today!

North Carolina has generated interest from about every angle you can think of over the past several days. After hiring Bill Belichick, the football program at Chapel Hill took a dominant national position.

Two players who immediately put their names in the transfer portal after the firing of Mack Brown and the season finale were starting offensive linemen Aidan Banfield and Austin Blaske.

Banfield came to North Carolina as a three-star recruit and an 87 ranking according to 247 Sports. As a transfer, Banfield was up to an 88 ranking overall and the No. 6 offensive lineman in the portal.

Banfield started 10 games for the Tar Heels in the previous season.

Blaske came to UNC football from Georgia after a four-star recruiting profile and a 90 overall ranking, according to 247 Sports. He was the No. 32 tackle in the country when he came out of high school.

The fifth-year senior started 11 games for North Carolina in his senior season.

North Carolina now has solidified one of the key elements on offense, the line. The guys who protected Jacolby Criswell all season have returned. It is no surprise that a name like Bill Belichick will get those guys who have already entered the transfer portal to re-think their decisions.

Blaske and Banfield will not be the only players to return from the portal to their home team after a massive hiring like Belichick.

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UNC AD Bubba Cunningham welcomed Bill Belichick by donning a suit jacket with cut-off sleeves

Seems like a waste of a jacket.

Bill Belichick — a 72-year-old who has never coached college football — was welcomed to Chapel Hill on Thursday as North Carolina’s new football coach. And the man who hired the six-time Super Bowl winner even showed up to the introductory press conference with a prop of his own.

Throughout Belichick’s time with the Patriots, his wardrobe choice on the sidelines remained consistent. It was a hoodie or a sweatshirt with the sleeves cut off. And while Belichick was presented with a sleeveless UNC hoodie during the press conference, athletic director Bubba Cunningham took it a step further.

He welcomed Belichick by putting on a suit jacket that had the sleeves cut off.

If there was any doubt that Cunningham chose Belichick in part to make a national splash, the sleeveless suit jacket all but confirmed the motive. North Carolina wants a show and is willing to risk a Herm Edwards/Charlie Weis-type situation for the national attention.

But hey, the jacket did get Belichick to laugh. It can be done.

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North Carolina weirdly pitched AJ Dybantsa on Duke’s success during failed recruitment

Why did North Carolina do this?!?

AJ Dybantsa decided to play college basketball at BYU, but before that, he considered various other schools including North Carolina.

Picture this scenario that Dybantsa experienced: You are the top basketball recruit in the nation and while meeting with the program, the university opts to weirdly invoke the success of their biggest rival as a reason to attend their school.

That is somehow exactly what happened for Dybantsa when he met with UNC, according to a recent profile by Matt Norlander. It makes no sense, but alas, here is what Dybantsa was reportedly told (via CBS Sports):

“North Carolina pitched him a vision of being the next all-time scoring superstar to wear Tar Heel Blue, following in the footsteps of Michael Jordan, Vince Carter and Jerry Stackhouse. They referenced how Zion Williamson’s net worth skyrocketed by choosing to play at Duke instead of Clemson, laying out what one season at a blue blood did for his career in advance of being drafted by the New Orleans Pelicans, including a shoe deal worth upward of $50 million before ever playing an NBA game.”

That was an absolutely absurd decision, and Duke seemed to troll UNC afterward by posting a GIF of Williamson:

After hearing this pitch, and the whopping NIL deal, it isn’t exactly as much a surprise that the projected No. 1 pick in the 2026 NBA Draft decided BYU as a better fit than UNC.

Whoever mentioned Williamson should probably reconsider that for future meetings with recruits.

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Deion Sanders praises Tar Heels’ head coach Bill Belichick’s move to college football

Colorado’s Deion Sanders had mighty things to say welcoming Bill Belichick to college football!

There are very few coaches with the social media following that former NFL superstar Deion Sanders has. The head coach of Colorado is the most recent example of the success that former NFL players and coaches can have at the collegiate level.

He started out at Jackson State completely revamping and turning around the program and has since started the same process at the Big 12 school.

On top of that, Sanders is projected to have two of his players selected in the first 10 picks of the upcoming NFL Draft proving that NFL players create NFL-caliber talent.

On the flip side, the most dynamic story in college football over the last 24 hours has been North Carolina football hiring Bill Belichick, the long-time and Super Bowl-winning New England Patriots coach.

Coach Prime welcomed Belichick to the college ranks by stating that Belichick is the “Coach to All us Coaches.” That is some high praise for the man now in charge of UNC football.

On top of that, Sanders also related Belichick to Nick Saban, who is responsible for multiple championships at the University of Alabama.

Sanders goes on to say that “they know how to move people forward” which indicates his confidence that Belichick will provide players with NFL-caliber preparation, essentially putting a target on UNC football for the world to see.

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Five-star transfer defensive lineman looking to visit Bill Belichick, UNC football

Former five-star recruit transferring from Texas A&M will visit the Tar Heels amongst trips to Alabama and South Carolina.

After hiring former NFL head coach Bill Belichick, UNC football immediately became a destination that transfers wanted to visit with the winter portal currently open.

One of those is former five-star recruit and Texas A&M defensive lineman, Gabriel Brownlow-Dindy. According to 247 Sports, Brownlow-Dindy was a five-star recruit, holding a 98 ranking.

He was the No. 11 ranked player in the nation, the No. 4 ranked defensive lineman, and the No. 2 ranked player in Florida when he came out of high school. Brownlow-Dindy committed to Texas A&M and has spent his first three years of college football there.

With the Aggies, he has played in just eight games mainly filling a reserve role which probably led to his intent to leave Texas A&M and move on.

According to 247 Sports, Brownlow-Dindy is a three-star transfer with a rating of 89. He is the No. 5 ranked DL in the portal right now.

Andrew Ivins had this to say about the pass rusher coming out of high school.

Fires out of his stance with a lethal first step. Constantly in control of his body and doesn’t lose his balance or bearing easily. Understands how to bend and find leverage while crashing gaps. Keeps feet pumping and plays with a steady level of energy. Mauling tackler with the grip strength to corral ball carriers and make stops outside the hashes. Wins more times than not with a simple bullrush, but knows how to swim his way past blockers and is equipped with a few pass-rushing moves.

Brownlow-Dindy will visit North Carolina amongst other visits in the portal including Alabama, Vanderbilt, and South Carolina.

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No. 1 ranked Class of 2026 QB puts UNC football on his list

The North Carolina culture has reached a new level, and the No. 1 overall QB in the Class of 2026 has noticed.

UNC football has landed in the news for just about every station on every platform with the hiring of former NFL powerhouse head coach Bill Belichick. While with the New England Patriots, Belichick attended nine Super Bowls and won six of them, the most all-time by a head coach.

Now that he is at the college level in Chapel Hill, it hasn’t taken long for recruits and transfer portal players across the country to take notice of a coach who could prepare them for the next level of football, the NFL.

That starts with the Class of 2026 recruit, Jared Curtis. According to 247 Sports, Curtis is the No. 7 ranked player in the nation, the No. 3 ranked quarterback, and the No. 1 ranked player from Tennessee.

According to the composite that 247 Sports puts together, he is the No. 4 ranked player in the nation and the No. 1 ranked quarterback.

247 Sports gives him a rating of 96. His composite score, according to them, is .9977, which could make him the highest-rated commitment that UNC football has ever seen.

The quarterback roaring from Nashville Christian School in Tennessee has offers from Alabama, Auburn, Arkansas, Colorado, and Georgia.

Currently, he is projected to join Kirby Smart and the Bulldogs, but he recently also made a statement that shocked college football. He said, “arguably the greatest coach of all time. Definitely want to get up there and meet him!”

If nothing else, the name of Bill Belichick is already starting to draw interest from some of the top talent in high school and college football.

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Will Bill Belichick’s hiring expedite North Carolina leaving the ACC?

Could Bill Belichick lead the Tar Heels out of the Atlantic Coast Conference?

When an undefeated conference champion in Florida State failed to make the final four in the College Football Playoffs in 2023, it caused an ACC uproar.

A debate ensued about the possibility of the ACC not being the conference that the SEC, Big 10, and Big 12 are. That similarly led to conversations around the football powerhouses in the ACC leaving for one of those more respected conferences.

North Carolina became an instant football university overnight with the hiring of six-time Super Bowl-winning coach Bill Belichick.

Ryan McGee from ESPN noticed this topic surrounding the hiring of Bill Belichick to Chapel Hill.

Because of its brand, academic reputation, and flagship status for the deep-pocketed state of North Carolina (sorry, Tobacco Road rivals, but it’s true), UNC is also viewed as the sleeping giant of conference realignment. While Florida State and Clemson make their public noise about the potential of moving elsewhere, the Heels are widely considered to be the most coveted ACC target for any league seeking its next cash-covered puzzle piece. A departure from the conference it helped create would be every bit the equivalent of Texas and Oklahoma bolting the Big 12 or USC breaking ranks with the Pac-12.

When it comes to bringing in money for the university, it is football that gets the job done. McGee explains that the football program drives the revenue.

When it comes to redrawing maps and endorsing checks from restructured TV deals, it’s a football-gloved hand that wields the pen. And all of those other universities listed in the previous paragraph have won a hell of a lot more than a handful of Gator Bowls and earned way more than zero conference titles since the Carter administration.

It is yet to be seen if North Carolina will entertain the idea of leaving the ACC for one of the more powerful conferences, but if Florida State or Clemson start jumping ship, it will just be time before the discussion starts.

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