Pryce Yates, Sr, DE

6-foot-4, 265 pounds

The last time Pryce Yates wore a Connecticut football uniform was against North Carolina in a Huskies romp in the Fenway Bowl last December.

The last time Yates put on football pads was actually as a member of North Carolina, as not long after the game just after Christmas, Yates decided to transfer and play for the Tar Heels.

What UNC Coach Bill Belichick and his staff saw quickly in Yates is that he’s a grinder. A total grinder.

A student of the game and a relentless worker on his craft from the weight room to flexing to speed and quickness, Yates is constantly going after it. He lives by a credo invested in improving every aspect of self knowing it will be revealed on Saturdays.

“It's about staying 100 percent disciplined to the things you're supposed to do, get that extra work in,” Yates told the New Haven Register last season. That mental strength carries you through the season."

That daily drumbeat helped Yates to a fantastic season last fall when healthy and why programs like UNC welcomed his services. For Yates, however, it starters upstairs in his head. The body can look sculptured, the toughness can be off the charts, the speed unmatched, but if a player isn’t mentally prepared, they won’t excel.

"Personally, it's just seeing what I'm getting on the field, diagnosing what's going on whether and reacting faster,” he told the Register when discussing his keys to personal success.

Yates was so high in demand that UConn Coach Jim Mora, said before the Huskies and Tar Heels faced off on the hallowed grounds where the Boston Red Sox do business, other programs were tampering trying to get him to transfer there before the portal even opened last December.

But when he entered, UNC won out among the many suitors, and now Yates is a Tar Heel for his final season of eligibility. Not bad for a guy from San Antonio who chose UConn over Abilene Christian, Lamar, Incarnate Word and some Ivy League schools.

As we are doing all spring and summer, here is a dive into Yates’ numbers:

2024 Stats:

*7 games, 21 tackles, 4 missed tackles, 6.5 TFLs, 3.5 sacks, 13 hurries, 3 QB hits, 1 PBU, 12 STOPs (plays that result in failures by the opposing offense), 3 targets allowing 3 receptions for 20 yards and 1 TD.

Career Stats:

*32 games, 1,427 snaps, 108 tackles, 23 missed tackles, 29 TFLs, 12.5 sacks, 12 QB hits, 51 hurries, 3 forced fumbles, 57 STOPs, 1 PBU, 3 targets allowing 3 receptions for 20 yards and a TD.

2025 Outlook:

Yates was a really good player for UConn but will that translate to the ACC? Yes, it will. He played very well against the Tar Heels in the bowl game, had 3 sacks the previous two seasons against Boston College, and with ten games in his career against P4 teams, he’s ready. This was the logical next step for Yates, and from what we’ve been able to gather, he has been highly impressive.