CHAPEL HILL – When the state of Virginia postponed the high school football season last fall, moving it to the spring, Tony Grimes and his family made a risky but shrewd move.

A 5-star cornerback from Virginia Beach, VA, Grimes was planning on enrolling early at North Carolina, meaning arriving in Chapel Hill in January 2021. So, with fallout from COVID-19 pushing everything back in the Commonwealth, Grimes was not going to play his senior season at Princess Anne High School, and with just one credit needed to graduate, Grimes went to work and took care of his academic business.

Then, in early August, he arrived at Carolina just weeks before his senior year was to begin, only he was no longer a high school student. Grimes was a college man, and a football player at a big-time program, too.

Talk about an adjustment.

But he got through. All 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds of him, at least that was when he arrived.

Now, he is 200 pounds and one of the Tar Heels’ starting cornerbacks.

“He’s gained 20 pounds and he just looks different in his body than he did before,” UNC Coach Mack Brown recently said.

As Grimes was putting on that weight, he was also figuring out how to adequately function as a college football player. From the basics to the terminology to adjusting to the speed and physicality of the game, it didn’t happen overnight for him. But it didn’t take that long, either.

“When I knew I could hang with the big dogs and knew I could was about four weeks into our season,” Grimes said. “I felt like, ‘Okay, I’ve got my groove back, I can hang with these big boys. I can play.’”

Grimes played 33 snaps through UNC’s first five games, but in its sixth contest, a 56-24 demolition of Duke on an afternoon UNC scored touchdowns on its first seven possessions, he got some significant run. With the game well in hand, the staff put some younger Heels onto the field, Grimes included. He played 23 snaps. A week later versus Wake Forest, though, was when Grimes’ career path at Carolina dramatically changed.

Trailing the Demon Deacons 45-24 midway through the third quarter, UNC defensive coordinator Jay Bateman decided to put Grimes, freshman nickel Ja’Qurious Conley, and some freshmen defensive linemen into the game. The Heels were being shredded by the Deacs, so the change was necessary.

The result: Wake managed just 29 total yards over its next 18 offensive plays while Sam Howell and UNC’s offense exploded, and the Tar Heels won 59-53.

That was the turning point for Grimes.

“My first thought in my head was, ‘We here now, we gotta play. So, whatever you do, the eye’s in the sky for you, you gotta perform,’” Grimes recalled. “So, I got in, and I’d say the second play, I got my first pass breakup and then I just felt it’s time, I’m good, I can do this.”

And he did.

Grimes played 317 snaps on the season, but 232 came over the final four games, which included 67 versus Notre Dame and 63 against Texas A&M, two of the top five teams in the nation. He finished with 14 tackles, one of which was a sack in the Orange Bowl, an interception, three PBUs and a QB hurry.

“When Tony got here, you could tell he was a 17, 18-year-old kid who looked like he’s still supposed to be in high school,” senior linebacker Jeremiah Gemmel said. “You could tell. He was out there, and he was slow in his steps, slow in his reads. But as the season went on, you just saw the progression.”

Fast forward several months and Grimes is an entrenched starter with high expectations, from within and the outside. Confidence is certainly not an issue.

“My expectation for this season is to be the best corner I can be,” Grimes said. “Just be the No. 1 corner everyone talks about: ESPN, SportsCenter … I’m trying to be the best DB in the country.”

Grimes’ goals also include being “trustworthy” to his teammates and serving as a great teammate. Performing on the field will take care of much of that.

He is a year ahead of schedule but perhaps more so from a football perspective. A highs school kid nine months ago, Grimes is now a returning starter on a team pegged to begin the season ranked among the top 10.

That prudent decision Grimes and his family made last July sure has paid off and then some.