Bryce Baker will remain committed to North Carolina.
One of the top quarterbacks nationally in the recruiting class of 2025, Baker announced Saturday he will not sign elsewhere and keep commitment to UNC and not flip to Penn State or LSU.
At issue for Baker was that after pledging to the Tar Heels on June 27, 2023, he began embedding himself into the program. The Kernersville, NC, (East Forsyth High School) native was in Chapel Hill every chance he got. But when Mack Brown was fired nearly three weeks ago, it forced Baker to look at other options.
Notre Dame tried to get him to flip during the season well before Brown was let go. But Penn State got Baker to take a visit the weekend UNC hosted NC State, which was Brown’s final game at the helm.
Once Brown was fired, Baker had no choice but to look at other opportunities. With LSU losing its committed quarterback, Brian Kelly’s staff reached out trying to get Baker on campus. James Franklin and Penn State succeeded, and his visit to State College went very well.
Yet, UNC finally made a hire, announcing NFL legend Bill Belichick on Wednesday as its new coach and then introducing him Thursday. Baker spoke with the six-time winning head coach Friday, and it solidified his decision to remain a Tar Heel.
“It was good,” Baker told the Winston-Salem Journal. “I asked all the tough questions I wanted to ask and he gave me great answers. The whole family was on the call and we were able to analyze the answers after, get our own separate zoom call… It was a good, good interview.”
Baker had no idea who UNC would end up with. Some of the names Carolina Athletics Director Bubba Cunningham was zeroing in on are exactly household names. Belichick is regarded by many as the greatest NFL coach of all time.
So, how much did that move the needle for Baker?
“It’s cool,” he also told the Journal. “A lot of people are asking me kind of my emotions. But I’m a guy that stays poised, never too high never too low. So, I was still level-headed through it. It’s exciting for sure. But I definitely wanted to ask those questions tonight and see truly how he can develop me and get me to where I want to be.”
Baker, who is 6-foot-3, is rated the No. 78 overall prospect nationally in the class. Just to compare, former Tar Heel quarterback Sam Howell was No. 111 in his class (2019) and Drake Maye was No. 147 (2021) in his class.
Brown flipped Howell from Florida State and Maye from Alabama.
"This is huge for the Belichick era at UNC to keep the commitment of Baker from Penn State and LSU," said NC Preps Publisher Deana King, who has closely covered Baker during his career. "It also shows Baker’s loyalty to UNC that he never decommited and waited to see who the new coach was to be.
Baker plans to enroll next month and begin his time at UNC.
