CHAPEL HILL – Kyler McMichael wanted a new home, but his search for something more comfortable didn’t last long.

A day after entering the transfer portal in July of 2019, the highly touted cornerback was a Tar Heel, finalizing a process aided by his good friend.

North Carolina defensive back Trey Morrison and McMichael were teammates at Greater Atlanta Christian School, so as McMichael expressed some concerns during his time at Clemson, Morrison sold him on Mack Brown, Dre’ Bly and UNC.

McMichael bought Morrison’s pitch and jumped aboard.

“He definitely was an influential factor in getting me here,” McMichael recently said.

Morrison wasn’t just trying to get a buddy onto campus so they could hang out, McMichael is a serious talent. He was the No. 53 overall prospect nationally in the class of 2018, though he wasn’t offered by UNC’s staff that was in place at the time. At Clemson as a true freshman, he played 101 snaps in 12 games for a Tigers’ team that won the national championship.

Twenty-one months since playing in an actual game, McMichael is ready to do whatever the Tar Heels request. He’s raring to go, as the time in between focusing on his game and learning Jay Bateman’s defense was time well spent.

"I thought that year off was good to me so I could get acclimated to the defense they’re doing here,” McMichael said. “That whole year I was on the scout team, but at the same time I was also in the meeting room with the DBs. So just being able to understand the defense and getting a chance to watch – I was still supportive. Of course, I wish I was out there still able to play, but I felt like it was a good year for me.”

A big cornerback at nearly 6-foot-1 and 205 pounds, McMichael is trying to master both the field and boundary duties. He was a boundary at Clemson, and it comes more naturally to him, but Bateman’s defense is best served by guys who can do multiple things. It shrugs off the notion there are simply boundary players and field guys.

McMichael is working to satisfy Bateman’s demands.

“I have boundary down, still learning field,” he said. “But I’ll be comfortable with both pretty soon.”

One thing is certain without question, and that’s the physicality McMichael brings to the field. No shying away from contact for him.

In fact, UNC cornerbacks coach Dre’ Bly, a fair player at the position during his College Football Hall of Fame and NFL All-Pro days, says McMichael reminds him of one of the sport’s greatest and most punishing running backs of all-time.

“Have you seen that dude? The dude built like Herschel Walker, man,” Bly said, smiling and having some fun describing McMichael. “I mean, he's a guy that got traps and arms, and I mean, he got hamstrings and calf muscles. I mean, he going to pass the look test. He can run. So, we excited about that, man. He's one of those dudes, when he walks in the room, all heads going to turn in his direction because he has that appearance.”

It’s an interesting comparison and one McMichael embraces because the relevance of it reflects his style of play, which makes him a better player.

“Definitely,” he agreed. “Now in college, you see 6-foot-4, 6-foot-5 receivers, so I feel like it’s definitely necessary to have a bigger corner out there guarding them. So, if I’m able to be physical with that type of receiver, I can definitely shut down that side of the field.”

Among the things McMichael has learned from Bly is to do what he did back in the 1990s and early 2000s: Get the ball.

Or at least make plays on the ball. Bly set an NCAA record for most interceptions (13) by a freshman in 1996 and wants his guys picking off passes, too.

“Definitely the importance of ball skills,” McMichael said about what Bly emphasizes. “He wants more than just a physical cover corner. He wants somebody who’s going to be able to make plays on the ball and eventually (get) interceptions, pick sixes, all of that.”

If McMichael does all that this season, he’ll do so in Carolina blue in his new forever home. Not long ago, players couldn’t transfer within their own conference, but they can now, and with Morrison having a terrific true freshman season two years ago and then UNC’s new staff in place, it wasn’t a hard sell getting McMichael on board. What he saw then is happening now.

“I saw the potential with the group,” he said. “I saw the coaches that they brought in – I was a huge fan of Dre’ Bly and Mack Brown coming into it, and even Coach Bateman. I saw the recruits they brought in; I knew Sam Howell was going to be a baller when he came in.

“So, I definitely saw the potential with the group, and I knew it was going to be a building process last year, and you definitely saw the progress they’d made from the year before.”

It didn’t take UNC long to recognize McMichael’s immense upside, either.

Being nearly a 5-star kid coming out of high school is one thing but getting in front of the staff and working out, getting coached up, showing growth and fitting in are all key ingredients to success. The UNC staff clearly knows what it has in McMichael.

“I certainly think he’s got a skill set that very few people do,” Bateman said.

And this fall, if the season indeed goes on, everyone else will see that, too.