Bucking transfer portal trends, North Carolina nearing 40 commits in recruiting class

North Carolina making the decision to hire Bill Belichick last winter was in a word — unconventional.

The Tar Heels replaced 73-year-old Mack Brown with the 72-year-old former coach of the New England Patriots, who hadn’t coached at the college level well … ever. He overhauled the roster, adding more than 70 new players through high school recruiting and the transfer portal. The results on the field this season have been less than stellar, as UNC sits at 2-5 and winless in the ACC.

They’ll likely be back in the transfer portal in a big way this winter, but Belichick and his staff are bucking the conventional wisdom of a wholesale rebuild with other teams’ players. Instead, they’re doubling down on high school recruiting. UNC signed 30 players in last year’s cycle, and they’ve shot well past that already with five weeks still to go until National Signing Day.

On Thursday, they landed three-star wide receiver Nyqir Helton, a former Boston College commit who reopened his recruitment on Wednesday. He didn’t waste any time pledging to the Tar Heels, and his decision gives Belichick a whopping 39 commitments this cycle.

If that holds, it’d be the most for a Power 4 program since Ole Miss took 38 in 2009 under former coach Houston Nutt. And given the advent of the transfer portal and ways recruiting has changed in the past 15 years, taking 40 high school commitments is downright shocking.

Especially after a season where UNC’s talent deficiencies at key positions have been on display.

Georgia, USC next closest to Tar Heels in total commits

Among P4 teams this cycle, North Carolina has more than double the total number of commits of Florida, Oregon, Ole Miss, LSU, South Carolina, and Auburn. If they get another pledge, they’ll double-up another dozen or so teams who currently have 20 commitments.

USC is the next closest to the Tar Heels in sheer volume with 35 of its own commitments. Granted, the Trojans have the No. 1 overall class in the country. Georgia trails six behind them at 29 commits — and also ranks No. 2 nationally.

In a world where schools are slimming down their high school classes and instead investing in ready-made talent from the portal, Belichick and his staff are forging ahead with the old way of doing things.

“Really, it’s up to us to make the right evaluation for us — how the player fits here, not how he fits for another team and their system could be two different things,” he said this fall. “We have to do what we feel is best for the development of our team — and that’s not just his on-the-field play, but also the other components he brings: his work ethic, leadership, toughness, and so forth. So, it’s challenging.”

Only time will tell if they’re ahead of the game or helping to lay the brickwork for an early exit from UNC’s big experiment.