CHAPEL HILL – The last thing Nick Polino expected to do during his senior season at North Carolina was a little cheerleading, some coaching and a lot of stressing.

Scripts aren’t written in August, though, and certainly for Polino, he wouldn’t have chosen this path for his final campaign as a Tar Heel had he been granted that option. But football is a violent game and injuries happen, as Polino experienced firsthand.

A 6-foot-3, 305-pound senior from Buford, GA, Polino suffered a lower body injury during UNC’s victory over Miami in the second game of the season. As awful as that was for him, learning he needed surgery and would miss most of his final year in college was gut wrenching.

Instead of sulking and showing bitterness for his unfortunate situation, however, Polino decided being the best teammate he could would best serve a program he’s invested more than four years of his life.

“Going into it, once I found out I was going to have surgery and I was going to have to miss a decent amount of games, I wanted to be as involved as I could,” he said earlier this week. “I wanted to be out there to help out in whatever capacity I could help out in.”

By helping, Polino offered advice, coached his younger mates some, and did a fair amount cheerleading, too.

It wasn’t easy, though. Taking on Clemson in such a high-profile game that turned into a nail biter, Polino watched from the sideline wearing shorts. Grabbing the Victory Bell after beating Duke was also a moment he had to watch from the side.

But he made the most of it. Aside from Polino, UNC’s only other offensive lineman older than a sophomore is senior Charlie Heck, who starts at left tackle. So Polino turned his experience and knowledge into a tool for the team.

“I can see things that maybe the coach isn’t watching at that point, he’s watching somebody (else) and I see something else,” Polino said. “When they come off the field, (I) run over there (and) talk to the guys, see what they’re seeing, tell them what I was seeing. Just trying to help out in any way that I could.”

UNC offensive coordinator Phil Longo said the only difference between Polino wearing a helmet, shoulder pads and the rest of the gear while getting after it on the practice field was that he wasn’t. He was that dialed in trying to help his fellow Heels.

“He’s coaching guys on the sideline, he’s involved in drills, he’s as active in meetings as he was before,” Longo said. “The only thing that was missing from Polino was the fact that he wasn’t active out there in practice because of the injury.”

The coaching stuff is in the past, at least for now. Polino returned for the Virginia game on Nov. 2, though he played just 14 snaps. Coincidence or not, the Tar Heels scored a touchdown on the first series Polino had played in 55 days.

He’s working out primarily at left guard and is on the two-deep as the Tar Heels head to Pittsburgh for an important contest Thursday night. At 4-5 overall and 3-3 in the ACC, the Heels need two more wins to qualify for a bowl game for the first time since 2016.

For Polino, having a chance at contributing on the field and helping the Heels reach some of their remaining goals is plenty of motivation to go out on a high note.

“It’s bittersweet missing a good portion of my senior season, it’s not how I really wanted things to go going into the season, obviously,” he said. “But being in the situation I was in and still having a chance to come back and finish up the tail end of the season with the guys and hopefully make a bowl game, a lot of guys don’t find themselves in that position once going down.”

Polino can still cheer Thursday night, but he’ll likely do a lot of it on the actual field of play.