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CHAPEL HILL – Virginia and North Carolina comprise the Oldest Rivalry in the South on the football field. There was a time when that was the most heated annual battle for both programs, and at times it still gets dialed up quite a bit.
So, for about a hundred years, it never dawned on anyone that a Tar Heel could become a Cavalier, or the other way around. But in the modern era of college athletics with transfer rules having been significantly amended, the once unthinkable has occurred.
First, former UNC wide receiver T.J. Thorpe transferred to Virginia as a graduate student in 2015, but Thorpe was a solid player for the Tar Heels, but not considered a big loss when he left for Charlottesville. Noah Taylor, however, is a different story.
One of UVA’s best players last fall, Taylor graduated in December and not long after became a Tar Heel for his final year of college football. He was a Wahoo, but now he’s a Tar Heels. And the differences were just beginning.
“I walked in right through these doors right here, and I was like, ‘Wow,’” Taylor said not long after arriving at UNC, noting being inside the Kenan Football Center. “I had no idea. When I walked through these doors I was like, ‘There’s no way this is happening.’”
Carolina’s facilities are much more impressive to Taylor than UVA’s, and Taylor’s football skills are absolutely appreciated in Chapel Hill.
An outside linebacker who flew around for the Cavaliers, Taylor is playing UNC’s new “Jack” position in new defensive coordinator Gene Chizik’s scheme. Taylor committed to UNC while Jay Bateman was still head of the defense, but it was a rather fortuitous move for the Carolina program, given that Taylor fits the Jack role perhaps better than he would have Bateman’s hybrid role.
“We are very impressed with Noah Taylor,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said. “He is very quick and an outstanding pass rusher.”
Now, Bateman hybrid and Chizik “Jack” share some similarities.
“Guys at our position, we’re going to get to the quarterback,” said Taylor, who had 12.5 sacks in a Virginia uniform. “We’re gonna make a lot of plays. It’s simple (and) a really good position to be at… it’s more like a glorified hybrid defensive end.”
Taylor started in 31 of the 45 games in which he played for the Cavaliers being credited by PFF for 36 QB hurries and 86 STOPs, which are plays that result in failures for opposing offenses. He was charged with just 17 missed tackles against 169 tackles in his four seasons.
Taylor’s role at UNC will be fairly simple, and not much different than what he did at UVA, he says. Perhaps a bit more physical, which he fully embraced from day one.
“For me personally, that would just mean beating a tackle every rep,” said Taylor, who has three interceptions and 28 TFLs to his credit. “If I make an inside move, if I’m v-teching tackles and v-teching guards, that would mean just beating them and never losing a rep against a running back or tight end.
“That’s a standard for us, and I know that’s what they expect at the next level in the NFL.”
Taylor said in the winter one of the reasons he chose UNC because he believed playing for Brown would enhance his chances at making it in the NFL. He will certainly have showcasing opportunities while being surrounded be coaches who know a thing or two about what it takes to get to the league and stick there.
His path would be the first of its kind to the league. Once a Wahoo always a Wahoo, but in his case, it also means being a Tar Heel, too.
