The first domino to fall for North Carolina Tar Heels’ football recruiting is a four-star prospect in the 2026 class. Shortly after it was announced that Mack Brown will not be coaching past the 2024 season, 2026 commit Zavion Griffin-Haynes has announced his decision in his recruitment.
The talented edge rusher officially decommitted from the program, re-opening his recruitment.
This is expected when there is a coaching change as programs go through it in the recruiting cycle. But it’s hard to say it’s not a big loss. Griffin-Haynes was UNC’s top-rated 2026 recruit and a key piece to that class moving forward.
He released a statement to Tom Loy of 247Sports on his decision.
“Mack Brown and I had a great relationship and that pretty much sums up my recruitment,” said Griffin-Haynes to 247Sports. “Now that he’s gone, he was a person I can trust without my mom being there. He has great experience in college football.”
The Rolesville, North Carolina native will be highly-sought after in his new recruitment and even visited Ohio State this past weekend for their showdown against Indiana. He has 26 offers and a lot of big programs after him.
He likely won’t be the only recruit to decommit from UNC amidst the coaching change.
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