North Carolina Football 2025 Preview
- Lewis Huston
- Aug 18
- 8 min read
Say Hello to your 2025 CFB Offseason Champions! Were they always “winning” the offseason? That depends on who you ask. The quick answer may be no, but if you’re of the opinion that no pub is bad pub? Then yeah, they are the unanimous vote.
The writing was on the wall for coaching legend Mack Brown after failing to win big with Sam Howell or Drake Maye and then falling back to mediocrity without them. Ultimately Mack Brown 2.0 was a success accomplishing what it needed to: rebuild a broken roster, recover local recruiting relationships, and get UNC football back to consistent relevance. But it was time to get younger and so they fired the 73-year-old Brown and brought in the 72-year-old Belichick. Speaking of age… ahhh nevermind.
Anyways, Belichick got right to work with new GM Michael Lombardi to try and build a competitive roster almost from scratch. Watching the roster come together gave me flashbacks to his Patriot days the way they targeted guys who had maybe been overlooked in hopes to find value and tap into raw potential. Let’s dive a little deeper into what should be a fascinating story to follow throughout the season.
Offense
After four consecutive seasons of NFL caliber QB play, last fall was a disaster. Texas A&M transfer Max Johnson won the QB competition only to break his leg in the opener. After a couple uninspiring starts by Connor Harrell, they settled on 3rd stringer Jacolby Criswell to finish out the rest of the season. Johnson is the only one that returns, although he’ll have to beat out fellow lefty Gio Lopez from South Alabama. Lopez is a true dual threat and was one of the more exciting QBs in college football last year regardless of conference. In 11 games he threw for 2,556 yards, 17 TD and 5 INT while averaging 7.4 ypc with another 7 TD on the ground. While Belichick hasn’t named a starter and Johnson’s comeback is a great story, I’m projecting it to be Lopez. Top 100 stud freshman Bryce Baker is the long-term answer and short-term insurance policy.
Omarion Hampton leaves massive shoes to fill after back-to-back 1,500-yard rushing seasons. There is a ton of youth that will attempt to pick up the pieces with the most obvious lead candidate being sophomore Davion Gause. The former ESPN300 recruit rushed for 323 yards on 67 carries (4.8 ypc) and 4 TDs as a true freshman, including a 100-yard performance in his debut against Charlotte. A tough, physical runner that I’m not sure yet how much is there in terms of game breaking ability like some of his predecessors.
Benjamin Hall transfers in from Michigan after two years buried on the depth chart but should have an opportunity at more work. Caleb Hood is back for a fifth season in Chapel Hill as a veteran presence. His best year was in 2022 with 44 car for 254 yards (5.8 ypc) before missing the last half of the year with an injury. Former JUCO transfer Charleston French (10 car, 84 yds in ’24) rounds out this room that is desperate for somebody to step up without Hampton around anymore.
Wide Receiver is in a similar spot with just one consistent contributor returning, although there isn’t an NFL talent to replace. Kobe Paysour is said returner, totaling 73 rec, 969 yds and 7 TD over three statistically similar seasons. UNC needs him to finally take a big jump as their most experienced receiver. The rest of the group is filled with exciting youth looking to breakout. Aziah Johnson started 3 games for Michigan State as a RS Fr (16 rec, 276 yds, 2 TD) and should be an immediate starter. As for other returners in contention to start, Jordan Shipp caught 9 balls for 114 yards and a TD as a true freshman with a start in the bowl game. Fellow local 4-star classmate Alex Taylor preserved his redshirt only appearing in 4 games but was a huge recruiting win over Clemson at the time. Both are breakout candidates, and if one or both pop this year, it would raise the ceiling tremendously for this Tar Heels offense.
Speaking of highly touted local talent, the former staff let Nathan Leacock get away to Tennessee but he comes back home now after failing to crack the depth chart in two seasons. Chris Culliver also had one start last year and hauled in two 40+ yard receptions against NC State late in the year. This is one of the most unproven WR groups in the conference, but with tons of potential and big play ability it could very well rank towards the top by seasons end if things click. Tight End is even more a mystery as they brought in a mixed bag of prospects through the portal but also return Max Johnson's brother, Jake, who was hardly used after a decent '23 season at Texas A&M.
Yes, Omarion Hampton was an ultra talented back, but it wasn’t all on him. He was running behind one of the better offensive lines in the country that ranked 18th in line yards, 9th in stuff rate and 19th in RBLK grade at 90.4. They return three starters, but center Austin Blaske suffered a non-contact foot injury in fall camp that’s expected to keep him out through September. This is a huge blow for the Heels as Blaske was one of the top returning centers in the ACC and it forces them to insert another transfer into the starting lineup. There are options though considering they brought in six transfers with starting experience. Daniel King (2nd Tm All-SBC at Troy) was slated to start at RG but could slide over with Blaske out, or 2x All-Patriot center Christo Kelly (Holy Cross) steps up.
Chad Lindberg started every game at RG for Rice last year after appearing in 22 games first three years at Georgia. South Carolina transfer Jakai Moore missed last season but played 1,760 snaps with 28 starts across the O-line from ’19-23. Miles McVay appeared in 16 games in two seasons at Bama and could push incumbent LT Treyvon Green, who allowed an alarmingly high 40 pressures. William Boone provides makes the jump from FCS where he was a full time starter and provides depth at Tackle as well. There are plenty of experienced options here so I wouldn't expect much of a drop off, assuming Blaske can fully return.
Defense
For whatever reason UNC hasn’t been able to figure out the defensive side of the ball for quite some time now, regardless of coaching staff. The defense was completely gutted by transfers and graduation, only returning two starters with their two best players now at Ohio State and Penn State. While there are young returners on the offensive side, the two deep on this side of the ball will be made up almost exclusively of transfers. It’s a complete rebuild for new DC Steve Belichick.
Pryce Yates (UConn) is my favorite of the new look D-line. A 3-year starter, he missed the first half of last year but in his career has been extremely productive with 108 tkl, 30 TFL and 12.5 sk. He had an impressive 14 TFL and 77.5 PFF grade in ’23. The rest of the group is guys that played primarily as backups at their last school. The other end will be Smith Vilbert who is physically impressive at 6’6” 284 lbs and got consistent playing time on an elite Penn State defense. CJ Mims (ECU) had 23 tkl and 4 TFL and slots in as the starter at NT, with D’Antre Robinson (Florida) likely next to him. Robinson is an intriguing prospect that saw action in the SEC as a true freshman. Isaiah Johnson did start a game at NT a year ago at Arizona but graded out pretty poorly. The one returner, Jaybron Harvey, appeared in 7 games in limited fashion but is a tad undersized.
They did bring in some linebackers with more starting experience. Andrew Simpson was one of the leaders of Boise State’s defense while Mikai Gbayor (49 tkl, 6 TFL, 3 PBU and 2 FR at Nebraska) should make an immediate impact as well. Khmori House (Washington) might have the highest upside of the three if he can put on some more weight at just 215 lbs. Tyler Thompson did make 2 starts early last season for the Heels, but there is very little college experience outside of that.
Secondary is where the two returning starters reside and looks to be in decent shape. CB Marcus Allen has played a ton of football over the last two years while slot corner Kaleb Cost was fifth on the team with 64 tkl to go along with 4 PBU and 2 INT. Safety Will Hardy has played a decent role in Chapel Hill for three seasons and made two starts last year with 34 tkl. Another ECU transfer, Gavin Gibson, was a nice pull out of the portal. He had a solid 76.0 coverage grade after playing over 300 snaps at Maryland. The highest graded defender from a year ago on this roster though, both overall and coverage wise, is Thaddeus Dixon who Steve Belichick is familiar with from Washington. There are some other options that could factor in as well, namely Minnesota transfer Coleman Bryson (611 snaps in 3 years; 5 starts last year). Greg Smith III was a highly recruited safety that appeared in five games as a true Fr at Florida.
Special Teams
Veteran kicker Noah Burnette is off the Notre Dame to finish out his college career, so Belichick brought in 3-year Marshall starter Rece Verhoff. After struggling early on in his career he finished with an 80.4 PFF grade in ’24. Tom Maginess provides stability in his third season as the punter. I’d imagine WR Chris Culliver gets the first crack at kick returner. He only had five returns last year but two went for touchdowns with a 48.4 average. Javarius Green is another option here. Zero punt return attempts return from a year ago.
Schedule
Chapel Bill takes the national spotlight immediately with a standalone home game on Labor Day against TCU. They’re currently 3-point underdogs so this a great chance to kick things off with a bang while the college football world watches. That’s followed up with a dumb road game at Charlotte on a short week. Why do ACC teams continue to do this? They go to UCF’s bounce house in week 4 before a bye heading into the Clemson game. You know Bill Belichick is going to throw the kitchen sink at Cade Klubnik off a bye. That’s followed by another bye but the rest of the schedule is an absolute gift from the ACC to welcome Coach Belichick. UNC will play the projected bottom four teams in the conference before finishing with crosstown rivals Duke and NC State.
Overall Outlook
Projecting North Carolina is an internal battle between weighing the roster vs the schedule. As a whole, I’m not super high on this roster. Gio Lopez is a fun player but can he hold up at this level? Because your other two options are a guy returning from a gruesome leg injury and a true freshman. There’s way too much projection at the skill positions while the entire front 7 on defense is new. The good news is there is plenty of experienced depth at offensive line and secondary, but now that already takes a huge hit with the Blaske injury. There is such a wide range of possibilities for the 2025 Tar Heels; feast on a weak back half of the schedule or the NFL model falls off the rails. I tend to believe in the winningest NFL coach of all-time to at the very least have his team prepared week in and week out. That combined with the schedule should have Carolina bowling again at a bare minimum, but it’s tough at this point to see too much more.
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