By R.L. Bynum
CHARLOTTE — There were plenty of schools that wanted to flash big money at defensive lineman Melkart Abou Jaoude and wide receiver Jordan Shipp to lure them away from North Carolina.
In both cases, the first contact from other schools came during the season, but they decided to remain loyal to UNC and try to turn the program around after a frustrating season.
“Transferring again wasn’t really a goal of mine,” Abou Jaoude said. “Something I could have done. But where’s the loyalty in that? What do I get out of that? My goal is to play in the NFL and to be a great NFL player. So, I’m just taking it day by day. I wasn’t really worried about all that stuff.”
Abou Jaoude said he fielded interest from other programs but never seriously entertained the idea of leaving.
“I’m good where I’m at,” Abou Jaoude said.
Shipp said the process was more involved for him, in part because calls to his family started arriving well before the season ended. All the calls went to his mom, who is acting as his agent.
“It wasn’t really a balancing act,” Shipp said. “I mean, I don’t have an agent anymore. A lot of people were trying to reach out, figuring out who my agent was. I don’t find the need for an agent. I’m not transferring nowhere. I wasn’t drafted last year, so there’s no point of an agent. I was just giving money away for what.”
Shipp said the calls began reaching his mother roughly halfway through the season, and the two agreed to set the conversations aside until the year was over.
“It was definitely like a narrative to get through it first, because I know that’s the first time we ever experienced that together,” Shipp said. “I told her, ‘I’d rather not know until after the season, because that gets you off track.’ She took the call, she talked to the people, whatever they wanted to do. They wanted to talk to her; she talked to them, but she let them know that I’m 100 percent focused on the target.”
Once the season ended, Shipp said his mother laid out what she had heard, but the pitch never swayed him.
“It was just more like she told me what schools were calling, and she brought up some other offers and stuff like that,” said Shipp, who wanted to stay at Carolina and emphasized that it wasn’t about the money. “I had schools that were offering me huge six-figure deals. It’s not about money. It’s about what is going to help me. What is going to set me up mostly for life after football? What is going to help me get to the NFL the quickest?”
He said the interest came from a range of sources, some more surprising than others.
“Surprisingly, some head coaches,” Shipp said of who contacted his mom. “It was a mixture.”
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Abou Jaoude said he experienced a similar dynamic, though it ran through his representation rather than his family.
“I have people talking to my agent, and I feel like I’m a pretty grounded person, and I just take each day for itself,” Abou Jaoude said. “I was more worried about the game I had that week, and I didn’t even care about what was going on after the season at that point.”
Abou Jaoude said his agent kept the outside noise away from him during the season, waiting until the calls started to pick up toward the end of the year, but he said his agent didn’t bother him about it.
“He left me alone,” Abou Jaoude said. “He knew what I had to focus on. He knew that the mission wasn’t done. I had a game that week, so he didn’t bother me.”
Even after weighing his options following the season’s conclusion, Abou Jaoude said that leaving never made sense to him.
“We talked about it,” Abou Jaoude said. “I thought about it for a little bit, but it just didn’t make sense for me to leave a place that gave me an opportunity.”
Shipp said staying at North Carolina came down to comfort and proximity to his family in Charlotte, a factor he weighed heavily against any financial offer.
“The first thing is just how comfortable I am here,” said Shipp, who is from Charlotte. “I’m two hours away from home. I’m a big family guy. My parents are getting older. I’m able to come home and visit. My nieces and nephews are getting older, and I was able to not miss those big moments. I’m able to come back for the little recitals and all the dances and their games, sports games and stuff like that. And that means way more to me than football games.”
He added that being present for his family carries weight beyond the sport itself.
As for the timing of the contact, both players said they didn’t view the midseason contact as unusual.
“I don’t find it weird,” Abou Jaoude said. “I think you’re just trying to win football games. Do whatever you can to win. It is what it is.”
Despite the best efforts of other schools, they still are Tar Heels.
UNC schedule
| Month/ date | Score/ time | Opponent (current ranking) | Record/TV |
|---|---|---|---|
| August | |||
| 29 | W, 15–10 | vs.TCU in Dublin | 1–0 |
| September | |||
| 12 | Noon | vs. ETSU | ACCN |
| 19 | Noon | at Clemson | ESPN |
| October | |||
| 3 | TBA | vs. No. 3 Notre Dame | TBA |
| 10 | TBA | at Pittsburgh | TBA |
| 17 | TBA | at Duke | TBA |
| 24 | TBA | vs. Syracuse | TBA |
| 31 | TBA | vs. No. 7 Miami | TBA |
| November | |||
| 7 | TBA | at UConn | TBA |
| 14 | TBA | vs. No. 24 Louisville | TBA |
| 21 | TBA | at No. 25 Virginia | TBA |
| 28 | TBA | vs. N.C. State | TBA |
| December | |||
| 5 | noon, ABC | ACC championship game in Charlotte | ESPN |
Photo courtesy of the ACC
