By R.L. Bynum

CHAPEL HILL — Sitting behind the lectern at the Kenan Football Center, North Carolina running back Caleb Hood spoke with a calm certainty — a man not just returning to a team, but to a calling.

Hood, who had once entered the transfer portal seeking opportunity elsewhere, is firmly planted back in Chapel Hill, ready to prove himself in what he believes is the right place at the right time.

“I just want to play somewhere. I feel like Carolina’s always been like my dream school,” said Hood, a 6–0, 220-pound redshirt senior who ran for 78 yards (his second-highest career total in a game) in the second half of UNC’s 27–14 Fenway Bowl loss to UConn, taking direct snaps in the wildcat offense.

Hood said he entered the portal because he wanted to get on the field and show that he can be that guy. But conversations with Coach Bill Belichick, Offensive Coordinator Freddie Kitchens and General Manager Mike Lombardi pulled him back.

“I was talking to Belichick, and he wanted me to come back,” said Hood, who ran for a career-high 87 yards on Sept. 3, 2022, in the 63–61 win at Appalachian State. “And me, Kitchens and Lombardi, it just felt like this is where God wanted me to be at the end of the day. I just give all credit to God.”

Hood’s road back to the field has been anything but smooth. Injuries have been a recurring obstacle in his college career, a reality that’s made him all the more attuned to the quiet grind of recovery.

He’s never played more than seven games in a season. From an upper-body injury in 2023 to an offseason lower-body injury that limited him to five games last season, there has been a good bit of frustration.

When asked about quarterback Max Johnson’s harrowing comeback — pushing through the threat of losing his leg — Hood didn’t hesitate.

“It’s super inspiring. I mean, not even just Max, but just all the teammates over here,” said Hood, whose father Errol played for UNC from 1998 to 2001. “One of my best friends, my big brother, British Brooks, he had a pretty serious injury. Just seeing what they go through on a day-to-day basis? It plays a big role in your mental health.”

Physical health and staying on the field are topics Hood approaches with newfound maturity, thanks to the guidance of Brian Hess, the director of sports performance, and Amber Rinestine-Ressa, the director of nutrition.

“All the steps have been in place with Coach Hess and Amber and my other people before,” he said. “But I think for me, I just had to take that next step and do it myself. Taking care of my body, being responsible. I think I’ve taken that step, and I feel really good.”

That maturity includes an emphasis on taking things one day at a time.

“It’s a long season regardless,” Hood said. “Just getting better every day, staying where our feet are.”

That grounded mentality resonates across a locker room full of players either returning from injuries or hoping to redefine their roles.

Hood’s re-commitment to Carolina was rooted not just in faith, but also in belief — the kind that came from coaches who told him what he could be, not just what he already was.

“They just gave me a shot. They saw something central in me,” Hood said, describing conversations with Belichick and his staff. “Not the one like, just, ‘oh, you’re the best we got; you got to come back.’ But it was like, ‘hey, you can really do something if you put your mind to it and you change, work.’ And just hearing that from the greatest — you can’t really turn that down.”

With Kitchens installing a system that prioritizes physicality, Hood has seen the tone shift tangibly.

“Coach Kitchens, as soon as he took over during [Fenway] Bowl practice, we were doing hitting drills mid-practice,” he said. “He’d just blow the whistle, and we’re in the middle of the field.”

Hood described it as a mentality as much as a scheme.

“You can go out there and be physical any day you want. But, it’s just about this mentality. And if you want to for us.”

When asked whether the team has been too soft in recent seasons — a criticism that came from outside the program — Hood didn’t bite.

“I ain’t gonna speak on past or future,” he said. “Right now, we’re focused on getting better and getting more physical. And I think we’re doing a pretty good job of that.”

Part of Hood’s renewed edge is physical, having lost 10 pounds.

“I feel a lot better, a lot lighter, a lot quicker on my feet,” Hood said while not citing specific numbers for body fat or playing weight, adding that the change was intentional, spurred in part by injury prevention.

And as for the under-center handoffs that the media saw during their first practice of preseason camp?

“We’ve been going over [them] all spring, all winter, and then all summer,” he said. “So, it feels pretty good now. It was definitely new at first, me going from quarterback to running back and the shotgun, then to under center and some more pro-style. But it’s been good.”

Hood came back because he still believes he hasn’t shown his best. The injuries, the transfer portal, the mental wear — they’ve shaped him, but they haven’t stopped him.

“I just want to challenge myself,” he said. “I’m not jumping anybody.”

In a program that’s betting on toughness, Hood is leaning into it: one handoff, one hit, one day at a time.