UNC RB Caleb Hood announces decision to retire from football

Just five games into North Carolina‘s disastrous 2025 season, redshirt senior running back Caleb Hood has announced his retirement from football. The news came on the Tar Heels’ social media accounts.

Hood played five total seasons in Chapel Hill, totaling 515 rushing yards and three touchdowns on 114 carries. This season, the Rockingham, NC native totaled 44 rush yards and one rushing touchdown on 16 carries.

“After much thought, prayer and discussion with my family, I have decided to retire from football,” Hood wrote in a statement posted to X/Twitter. “My journey at UNC has been special and I appreciate my time here. I am excited to start the next chapter and will always take my memories of Carolina with me. I want to thank Coach (Bill) Belichick, Coach (Freddie) Kitchens and Coach (Natrone) Means for giving me an opportunity, as well as all my other coaches and teammates throughout my years of football for the impact they’ve all had on my life!”

Hood scored North Carolina‘s first touchdown of the season to give the Tar Heels a 7-0 lead over TCU in their season opener. Since his game-opening score, North Carolina has been outscored 120-26 by Power-Four programs this season.

“Caleb came to me Wednesday and shared his difficult decision to retire from playing football,” Belichick wrote in a statement. “I could feel his conviction and the peace with his playing career closing. Caleb is a great person, a leader and an exemplary teammate. He has done everything we have asked him to do as a student-athlete both on and off the field and he has been a model representation of our program. He has battled through injuries the last couple years and worked hard this offseason to stay healthy and compete every day this season. He will always be a Tar Heel and I wish him nothing but the best moving forward.”