By R.L. Bynum
RALEIGH — Jordan Shipp stood in the small visitor’s press conference room in Carter-Finley Stadium after Carolina’s fifth straight loss to rival N.C. State and spoke like someone ready to lead the turnaround.
The sophomore wide receiver, who said Saturday that he’ll return to UNC next season, didn’t point to talent or scheme as the root of the Tar Heels’ struggles. For him, the issue was simpler but possibly more complicated to fix.
“There’s a couple of things that need to change,” said Shipp after catching eight passes for 90 yards and a touchdown in the 42–19 season-ending loss. “Probably the biggest thing we just need to start playing with more heart, more effort on every play. Just selling out every play, not taking plays off. Situational awareness, situational football, knowing what’s going on, not getting dumb penalties, stuff like that. Just small stuff — fundamentals.”
That theme played out repeatedly during UNC’s three-game losing streak, all against Big Four rivals.
UNC piled up 114 penalty yards and surrendered four short-yardage touchdowns, the kind of lapses that have haunted the Tar Heels all season.
Shipp admitted that when he saw teammates lose focus, he didn’t stay quiet.
“It’s just like, what are you doing? We need to just put it out there,” he said, describing those sideline conversations.
The loss ended UNC’s season, which began with high preseason expectations, at 4–8, the program’s worst finish since 2018. That season, Larry Fedora’s last, was the previous UNC team not to play in a bowl, and the previous of now four times in program history that the Tar Heels lost to Wake Forest, Duke and N.C. State (also in 2003 and 1989).
Bill Belichick, hired late last offseason to stabilize the program, lamented that “we’ve got a lot of work to do.”
For Belichick, the next step begins immediately. He didn’t offer sweeping season autopsies minutes after the game. Instead, he didn’t want to provide a season summary.
“We’ll go back and take a look at it and find ways to improve and try to improve it. We’ll go through, there’s a lot of processes we’ll go through at the end of the season that’ll start [Sunday],” he said.
Shipp said that the foundation is there.
“The good thing about the bottom is it starts sturdy enough to build off,” he said, pointing to the importance of the offseason. “Everything comes from hard work. The work that you put in, you’re going to get a good result. We’re going to go back with offseason workouts. … We’re going to build from there.”
The big question is who will be part of that journey with Shipp, with a second offseason of roster turnover likely. That will play out with the early National Signing Day on Wednesday, followed by the transfer portal window from Jan. 2 to Jan. 16.
That player movement began Sunday, with Chris Culliver announcing he is entering the transfer portal. There will be more departures and arrivals.
Shipp hopes the newcomers will have the focus he saw lacking in some teammates this season.
Photos by Smith Hardy
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