CHAPEL HILL - For more reasons than one, North Carolina outside linebacker Tyrone Hopper’s decision to take advantage of the NCAA’s waiver not counting this past season against anyone’s eligibility and return to the program makes sense.

A senior, Hopper had his best season as a Tar Heel, playing a career-high 621 snaps, 389 more than he played in 2019, and racking up 27 tackles, two sacks and 23 quarterback hurries, according to PFF.

His career has been full of adversity, as Hopper has overcome a plethora of injuries in his five seasons in Chapel Hill. After redshirting his true freshman year in 2016, the Roswell, GA, native had surgeries on each of his shoulders a year apart and tore his hamstring in the summer before his sophomore campaign in 2018.

Not only that, but Hopper was suspended for four games during his sophomore season because of his role in the shoe gate incident, which led to the NCAA sanctioning 13 UNC players after they sold team-issued shoes.

With this in mind, and it becomes clear why Hopper decided to come back for one final year.

“I had a past with a lot of injuries, so that played a huge role,” he said. “I didn't think I’ve got the snaps and reps that I needed to be successful for the next level, so that played a huge role in coming back.”

Hopper also consulted with his family, who encouraged him to return to Chapel Hill to gain more experience for the next level, before making the decision.

“Just talking with my family, they felt like I needed to come back,” Hopper said. “So, that was probably the final part of me making my decision.”

His education played a factor as well, with Hopper looking to pursue a masters in Business Administration in the near future. He was already in graduate school during this past season, having graduated last May.

“As far as right now, I’m in a post-bacc, but during the summer I'm going to start a graduate certificate program,” Hopper said. “And, during the fall, I'll probably start one of the MBA programs.”

There’s more than just personal reasons Hopper decided to come back, however. The Tar Heels return a ton of talent at the outside linebacker position, including Tomon Fox, Chris Collins and Desmond Evans, and will add incoming freshmen Trevion Stevenson and Gabe Stephens, two highly rated prospects in Carolina’s 2021 class.

As a whole, UNC’s defense will also return plenty of experience, with Ray Vohasek, Tomari Fox, Jeremiah Gemmel, Tony Grimes, Kyler McMichael, Ja’Qurious Conley, Trey Morrison, Don Chapman and Cam’Ron Kelly all set to come back alongside a handful of other players.

“I felt like we have something very special going on at Carolina, so I really wanted to be a part of that,” Hopper said. “I feel like, this upcoming year, that we’re going to be one of the biggest teams. We're going to be the hunted next year, so that played a huge role.”

Among the people most excited about Hopper’s decision is fellow outside linebacker Tomon Fox, who is also taking advantage of the waiver and returning to Chapel Hill for one final season.

Hopper, who is originally from Shelby, NC, before moving to Roswell, GA, has known Fox since high school, with Fox having grown up in Lawrenceville, GA, which is located just 30 or so miles east of Roswell.

The pair even roomed together when they first arrived in Chapel Hill way back in 2016.

“That’s my brother, man,” Fox said. “We’ve known each other since high school and basically we do everything together. We’re like little partners in crime, that’s what they call us in the facility. You’re not gonna see him without seeing me, we do everything together.”

Fox knows better than most what Hopper has gone through in his time at UNC and fully supports his friend and teammate’s decision to return.

“I feel like the more reps he’s had in the past couple years, we’ve seen a lot of potential out of him,” Fox said. “It’s just what he needed. He hasn’t had that many reps, but once he’s out there, he’s a contributing factor to the team.”

It has been quite the ride for Hopper since he first stepped foot on campus in June 2016 and, when considering what he has been through and the impressive season he had in 2020, coming back for one final season in Carolina blue just makes sense.

Now, the only thing left to do is get to work.

“Consistency comes with reps, so I'm gonna take this spring and try to come out and do everything perfect every single day…” Hopper said. “I'm gonna take this offseason, build my body and become stronger and that's gonna allow me to make a lot more of those plays.”