*Full video of the Leftwich interview is above, and a partial transcript is below.

CHAPEL HILL – Jakiah Leftwich didn’t have to spend much time learning about North Carolina’s football program or getting comfortable with some of the people in charge inside the Kenan Football Center.

A transfer from Georgia Tech, he was on Yellow Jacket teams that beat the Tar Heels each of the last three seasons, and his former head coach, plus a couple of other people from Atlanta, are now at UNC.

A right tackle at Georgia Tech, Leftwich is playing the same position for UNC, and he could end up starting along Randy Clements’ o-line.

At 6-foot-6 and 311 pounds, Leftwich played 312 snaps last fall, posting his best PFF grade in the opener versus Louisville. Leftwich played 73 snaps that night and graded out at 65.4. He did not get any offensive snaps in the Jackets’ win over UNC in late October.

Leftwich allowed one sack and 11 hurries this season getting all but seven snaps at right tackle. For the season, he earned a 48.7 grade, 47.2 in run blocking and 59.8 in pass blocking.

As a redshirt freshman in 2022, Leftwich played 347 snaps, starting four of the 10 games in which he appeared. He earned 52.6 overall blocking grade, including 54.0 in run blocking and 46.7 in pass protection. All of his snaps came at right tackle.

A grad transfer, Leftwich is from Atlanta, where he played at Westlake High School. He committed to Georgia Tech in 2020 when new UNC defensive coordinator Geoff Collins was the head coach.

Here is some of what he had to say:

Q: How much of a factor was it that Geoff Collins was here that helped you decided to go to UNC?

LEFTWICH: “It was a good thing seeing a familiar face from the place I just came from. A person I know I can trust and be around that’s in the building.”

Q: How much was immediate opportunity to play a lot part of your decision to come here?

LEFTWICH: “Here, it was a big opportunity within with the people I know and familiar with Coach Collins and all the other people that’s here.”

Q: When you got into the portal, who did you hear from, and what was that process like?

LEFTWICH: “It was a crazy process like coming out of high school being recruited as a young guy. I would say more intense since you’re on a time crunch. I wasn’t really on a time crunch line that because I entered in January. I heard from Auburn, Arkansas, Boston College. A lot of other big schools, but I came here.”

Q: What set UNC apart from the other schools and why you came here?

LEFTWICH: “Coaching, really, with Coach Mack Brown, Coach (Chip) Lindsey, Coach Clem (Randy Clements), coaches I already know; Coach Collins and the front office guys that I already know is here. (They) really set the difference of why I came here to other schools I was getting recruited at. Familiar faces, and they tell me the truth, and what they need from me and what I need from them.”

Q: Since you entered the portal in January and missed spring, how have you been able to keep yourself up physically so you’re ready for the season?

LEFTWICH: “I got my degree this spring, so I wasn’t doing much football. But I had a trainer in Atlanta, who really got me right with stuff that (we were) doing. (UNC) sent me stuff I can do on my own and plays I can run. Stuff like that.”

Q: You’ve been around long enough, you’re just ready?

LEFTWICH: “Yeah, ready to get to work.”

Q: You have a chance to start at tackle here, how do you look at the competition here to star?

LEFTWICH: “It’s a good competition. Me, Trey )Trevyon Green), Howard (Sampson), all of us compete every day, and all of us are getting better at that role.”

Q: Would you say you’re more of a left tackle or a right tackle?

LEFTWICH: “I would say a right tackle, which I played three years (at Tech).”

Q: You have a lefthanded quarterback here who could end up starting. How does right tackle change when a lefty QB is out there?

LEFTWICH: “It doesn’t really change for me. I’ve got to protect them no matter lefthanded or righthanded. That’s how I look at it.”

Q: Was there anything about playing UNC the last few years and its offense that appealed to you and had you thinking it would be cool to play for them?

LEFTWICH: “Seeing Omarion (Hampton) run that ball, seeing Tez Walker make spectacular catches like he do, Drake Maye obviously, and the talent before I came while playing them, I would say here and the offense – and all the tight ends, too.”

Q: Why do you think Georgia Tech seemed to have UNC’s number?

LEFTWICH: “Uh, I don’t know. We just came ready to play, I guess (smiling). I don’t know.”

Q: Were you particularly fired up in those games as underdogs or what?

LEFTWICH: “Yeah, we was always underdogs, but we just played it game-by-game, one-by-one, I should say.”