Andrew Simpson Finds Old Friend, New Partnership in Move to UNC

CHAPEL HILL, N.C. — A long friendship with cornerback Thad Dixon and fast partnership with coach Bill Belichick were among the principal forces that pulled linebacker Andrew Simpson across the country to North Carolina for his final season of college football.

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The new-look Tar Heels are depending on the experienced Boise State transfer as one of the foundational pieces among their entirely rebuilt defensive front and linebacking corps. Simpson said he became sold on UNC and a believer in the Belichick experiment from the first time they met in person and interacted.

“I kind of had a good feeling that I wanted to be a part of this,” Simpson said recently, referring to his recruiting visit in April. “Just talking to Belichick was kind of like the cherry on top. It was a great conversation. We talked for a long time. I feel like we could’ve talked a little bit longer, it seemed like, but he had a meeting to get to.

“It was with my family. He made us all feel welcome, made us all feel at home. He was a lot more genuine, a lot more authentic than I feel like people give him credit for. He was very easy to talk to, and he just made it simple. The reasons why we’re here, what we want to do, what they want to do with me. And it just made everything smooth.”

Plus, along with Belichick’s revered status as a football sage, there was the sincere sales job presented by the Washington transfer Dixon, his childhood pal from the West Coast, for further Carolina blue consideration.

Simpson and Dixon practically were Southern California neighbors growing up in the same area of Los Angeles — “we were like 2 miles away,” Dixon said — and played youth sports together, before competing against each other for rival high schools. Dixon committed to UNC in January out of the portal. He was participating in the Tar Heels’ first session of spring practices under Belichick’s new regime, when Simpson entered the transfer market in late March.

“We were both in the transfer portal,” Simpson said, “and we just kind of had a better understanding of what we wanted. What we wanted to go do, and how we wanted this season to turn out for the both of us. I trust him, he trusts me. And he made a very good pitch to me when I was in the transfer portal about why I should come here, and what we can do. And I’m just excited to get to work with him, because that’s my best friend.”

Now, Simpson is wearing No. 2, Dixon is outfitted in No. 1, and they’re reunited on the UNC defense, an overhauled unit under the direction of new coordinator Steve Belichick. The Tar Heels are eight days shy of their Sept. 1 season opener against TCU.

The fifth-year senior Simpson enters the approaching 2025 season rated among the best linebackers in the ACC, according to data from Pro Football Focus (PFF). Quincy Bryant of Wake Forest, Kyle Louis and Raheem Biles of Pittsburgh, Stanquan Clark of Louisville, and AJ Richardson of NC State are the only linebackers ranked ahead of Simpson, per PFF’s metrics.

He played in 40 games with 25 starting assignments across the last three seasons at Boise State, a period during which the Broncos compiled a 30-12 record, reached three straight Mountain West championship games, and advanced to the 2024 College Football Playoff. Simpson earned second-team All-Mountain West honors in 2023, when he supplied 66 tackles, a total that included 6½ sacks among his 16 tackles for lost yardage (fourth-most in the conference, tied for 20th nationally).

Simpson said he’s striving to be a leader and something of a coach on the field at UNC. He said he aims to play hard, fast and physical with relentless pursuit. “Somebody that you can depend on when the game is on the line,” he said.

Colorado, Florida, Miami, Purdue, Southern Cal, Syracuse, Texas A&M and UCLA reportedly were involved with Simpson in the transfer portal, before Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels won out. He said with one season of college eligibility remaining, there was a tangible sense of urgency hanging over his transfer decision, as he left Boise State after four seasons.

“I needed to come in immediately and learn a new system, and be developed from where I was,” Simpson said. “And I just wanted to be ready for the league (the NFL) when the league comes calling. And I felt like Coach Belichick, there’s nobody else better to go to for that.”