10/14/2020 football Edit

Class Of 2021 Excited About Heels' Lofty Ranking

So what do some of UNC's class of 2021 commits think about the Tar Heels being ranked No. 5 in the nation? (ACC Media)

Deana King • TarHeelIllustrated

TarHeelIllustrated.com

King is Publisher of NCPreps.com, the NC high school site for Rivals.com/YahooSports. She is also a football and basketball Recruiting Analyst for Tar Heel Illustrated (UNC Rivals).

North Carolina vaulting into the top five of the college football rankings this week has generated plenty of national attention, not to mention the jolt of excitement the committed future Tar Heels in the class of 2021 are experiencing.

This is the first time since 1997 that UNC has been ranked this high, and that also happened to be the final season of Mack Brown's first stint as head coach in Chapel Hill.

THI reached out to get the thoughts of some members of the recruiting class to see what they think about the Tar Heels being ranked No. 5 in the nation. Here’s what they had to say:

Kamaro Edmonds: “I love it. It’s still a lot of people who don't believe we supposed to be that high, so the guys are playing with a chip on they’re shoulders. Coaching staff has those guys clicking right now.”

JJ Jones: “It’s amazing for them to be ranked that high for the first time since 1997. This shows that this team is one of the best in college football.”

RaRa Dillworth: “It’s what we’ve been working for! Not surprising at all!”

Caleb Hood: “It’s crazy, literally Coach Brown just got here and it’s already a top 5 program. I’m just glad I’m gonna be a part of it next year.”

Trevion Stevenson: “It’s awesome. I love it. We definitely earned it! And we are on a great come up. Coach Mack Brown and the rest of the coaching staff and team has done a great job. I can’t wait to step foot on campus too add to the great rhythm that’s going on and I’m pretty sure the other recruits can’t wait either. We are definitely on the come up!”

Dontavius Nash: “It has me feeling good about the future. I feel like we are showing that we are one of the best programs in college football. The guys are hungry. They are working their tails off. The guys are setting the tone for the new UNC football culture. With the 2020 and 2021 class we will be hard to beat. We have some great ball players and I’m looking forward to coming in and getting to work and help keep this train rolling. The staff told us UNC is gonna be different. The staff has turned the program around and showed UNC is not to be taken lightly.”

DeAndre Boykins: “Honestly, I’m not surprised, I knew it would happen. Because there’s only a few teams in the division that could compete with us, but we just have to stay in it now.”

Gabriel Stephens: “Only up from here 100%.”