CHAPEL HILL – The football transfer portal closed Tuesday night, and as THI reported a week earlier, no additional Tar Heels entered their names, thus no more defections from the program.
North Carolina did lose several players to the portal, however, since it opened for two weeks starting April 15.
Offensive lineman D.J. Geth notified the program before spring practice he was leaving, and did not participate in team activities afterward. Cornerback Lejond Covazos and defensive back Ayden Duncanson made decisions to leave during spring practice, and quarterback Tad Hudson entered the portal several days before UNC’s spring game, which took place April 20.
“You’re gonna have that now with the landscape in college football,” UNC Coach Mack Brown said last week in his post-spring press conference. “It’s what we’ve got. We’ll try to help each one of them try to get where they want to go and get where they can have more playing time.”
As of this writing, only Hudson has found a new school. He announced a transfer to Coastal Carolina on Monday.
Only four departures given the level of transparency within the program is certainly a positive development for Mack Brown and his staff.
“I met with the parents, and all the coaches met with the parents (after the spring game), and we told them the truth,” Brown said. “‘If your son’s playing well enough to play, we’re going to play him. We’ve got to win games. We love all your sons, we’ll take care of them off the field equally. On the field, we’ve got to play the ones that play the best.’”
Speculation that All-American running back Omarion Hampton would leave for a bigger payday at a higher-profile program was snubbed, as Hampton, a North Carolina native, stayed in Chapel Hill. UNC took care of what was necessary to keep him in the program, but according to multiple sources, Hampton wasn’t tempted to leave.
“He’s definitely staying here, so that’s good moving forward,” Brown said.
Two reasons are likely at play for why only four players left, none of whom were close to the depth chart, including Covazos, whom Brown noted before spring how important it was for him to make a move on the chart.
There is tremendous competition for playing time just about everywhere, so most of the players in the program believe they could get on the field this fall. The other reason is its culture.
“They have practice really hard every practice, number one,” Brown said. “We haven’t had to motivate them to practice. They’ve been competitive, and they’ve really taken it to heart if they weren’t doing well on their side of the ball to pick it up. There was great leadership.
“The second thing is they have fun with each other. We eat lunch with them every day. So, the whole staff’s down there every day to see them. They’re cutting up and picking at each other, and that’s fun. They don’t have animosity, they’re not mad.”
So far, UNC brought has brought in defensive tackle Joshua Harris from Ole Miss and quarterback Jacolby Criswell from Arkansas. The likelihood is strong Carolina will add to the roster in May.
