Inside the Roster: Numbers Game
The Transfer Portal window doesn’t open until Jan. 2, but North Carolina is already seeing players announce plans to enter. Couple that with the Early Signing Period spanning Wednesday through Friday, and the offseason roster shuffle has already begun.
Including walk-ons, UNC carried 109 players this season (thanks to “grandfather” rules that allow certain walk-ons to not count against the 105 limit). After accounting for 22 graduates and seven outgoing transfers, UNC currently projects a roster of 79 — leaving room for roughly 26 new additions.
If all 39 commitments were to sign with UNC during this week’s Early Signing Period — which is not expected — the staff would need an additional 15 players to transfer out to make room for them. And that doesn’t take into account the players that UNC will sign out of the Transfer Portal.
Expected 2026 Roster (79)
- Bryce Baker, QB
- Gio Lopez, QB
- DJ Mazzone, QB*
- Andres Miyares, QB*
- Au’Tori Newkirk, QB
- Charleston French, RB
- Davion Gause, RB
- Benjamin Hall, RB
- Demon June, RB
- Henry Martello, RB*
- Jaylen McGill, RB
- Jaylon Nichols, RB
- Jo Jo Troupe, RB
- Shanard Clower, WR
- Javarius Green, WR
- Nathan Leacock, WR
- Jordan Shipp, WR
- Dayton Sneed, WR
- Alex Taylor, WR
- Madrid Tucker, WR
- Kenedy Uzoma, WR
- Adrian Wilson, WR
- Connor Cox, TE
- Shamar Easter, TE
- Cort Halsey, TE*
- Jake Johnson, TE
- Deems May, TE*
- Aidan Banfield, OL
- Trey Blue, OL
- Eidan Buchanan, OL
- Bo Burkes, OL*
- Jordan Hall, OL
- Miles McVay, OL
- Byron Nelson, OL
- Jani Norwood, OL
- Peter Pesansky, OL
- Melkart Abou-Jaoude, DL
- Austin Alexander, DL
- Devin Ancrum, DL
- Daniel Anderson, DL
- Trey Giddens, DL
- Leroy Jackson, DL
- Isaiah Johnson, DL
- Xavier Lewis, DL*
- Nicco Maggio, DL
- CJ Mims, DL
- Joseph Mupoyi, DL
- Emmanuel Nwaiwu, DL
- Chinedu Onyeagoro, DL
- D’Antre Robinson, DL
- Kamarion Thomas, DL
- Tyler Thompson, DL
- Laderion Williams, DL
- Jonathan Agumadu, LB
- Jake Bauer, LB
- Evan Bennett, LB
- Timir Hickman-Collins, LB
- Khmori House, LB
- Tyler Houser, LB
- Lantz Pascal, LB
- Ty Adams DB
- Jermaine Anderson DB*
- Coleman Bryson DB
- Javion Butts DB
- Khalil Conley DB
- Kaleb Cost DB
- Khristian Dunbar-Hawkins DB
- Reggie Love DB*
- Tre Miller DB
- Jaiden Patterson DB
- Graham Reintjes DB*
- Greg Smith DB
- Jalon Thompson DB
- Peyton Waters DB
- Ty White DB
- Malcolm Ziglar DB
- Guytano Bartolomeo, K
- Jacob Horvath, P
- Gannon Burt, LS*
Expected Transfer Portal Entrants (7)
- Paul Billups, WR
- Chris Culliver, WR
- Aziah Johnson, WR
- Jason Robinson, WR
- Yasir Smith, TE
- William Boone, OL
- Trevyon Green, OL
Graduates (22)
- Max Johnson, QB
- Caleb Hood, RB
- Kobe Paysour, WR
- Paul Barton, TE*
- Jordan Owens, TE
- Austin Blaske, OL
- Christo Kelly, OL
- Daniel King, OL
- Chad Lindberg, OL
- Jakai Moore, OL
- Will O’Steen, OL
- Smith Vilbert, DL
- Pryce Yates, DL
- Mikai Gbayor, LB
- Andrew Simpson, LB
- Marcus Allen, DB
- Thaddeus Dixon, DB
- Gavin Gibson, DB
- Will Hardy, DB
- Tom Maginness, P
- Spencer Triplett, LS*
- Rece Verhoff, K
Commitments (39)
- Travis Burgess, QB
- Crew Davis, RB
- Keeyun Chapman, WR
- Nyqir Helton, WR
- Zamaurious Robertson, WR
- CJ Sadler, WR
- Carnell Warren, WR
- Kymistrii Young, WR
- Will Conroy, OL
- Nick Fiumara, OL
- Anthony Hall, OL
- Jonah Rodriguez, OL
- J.B. Shabazz, OL
- Zion Smith, OL
- Carson Sneed, TE
- Jimmy Alo-Suliafu, DL
- Ashton Blatt, DL
- Zavion Griffin-Haynes, DL
- David Jackson, DL
- Viliami Moala, DL
- Trashawn Ruffin, DL
- Jordan Avinger, LB
- Lawrence Brown, LB
- Duyon Forkpa, LB
- Jayden Griffin-Haynes, LB
- Calvin Thomas, LB
- Julian Burns, DB
- Keegan Chapman, DB
- David Davis, DB
- Kenton Dopson, DB
- Jamarrion Gordon, DB
- Jaziel Hart, DB
- Xavier Jackson, DB
- Jaden Jefferson, DB
- Darien Lewis, DB
- Julian Peterson, DB
- Jakob Weatherspoon, DB
- David Green, K
- Adam Gibbs, P
* = added to roster as walk-on
Transfer Portal Commitments
TBD