Covering Carolina athletics beyond men’s basketball and football, with dedicated reporting on women’s basketball and baseball, in addition to covering other sports that rarely draw media attention
Every team with a Tar Heel in NFL training camps plays its preseason opener this weekend, with stars such as Drake Maye or Javonte Williams unlikely to play. In contrast, others will take snaps attempting to solidify their positions. Among the former UNC players who won’t be playing is Houston fullback British Brooks, who had surgery Aug. 5 to repair a broken hand suffered in practice, and is expected to be out a few more weeks.
CHAPEL HILL — Derek McDonald was at a Buc-ee’s parking lot in Florida, unsure where the next step in his football journey would be when he got a phone call. He might have had his mind on a brisket sandwich, but that quickly changed.
CHAPEL HILL — Bill Belichick is known for often giving short answers, but expounding on certain subjects that aren’t directly team-related expansively. That was the case during Thursday’s press conference at the Kenan Football Center when he talked about changing schemes to stop star players in sports, using examples that spanned football, basketball and beyond.
North Carolina place-kicker Rece Verhoff is set to return to Chapel Hill for a fifth college season after a court ruling granted him a fifth season of eligibility, giving the Tar Heels back their leading scorer from a season ago.
North Carolina senior defensive end Melkart Abou Jaoude has been named to the Bronko Nagurski Trophy watch list, the Football Writers Association of America (FWAA) announced Tuesday.
CHAPEL HILL — North Carolina offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino detailed his philosophy on running backs, and the message was clear: pass protection comes before everything else. Petrino said that a deep and versatile group gives him a foundation for what he wants to build.
CHAPEL HILL — Bobby Petrino has a reputation as an offensive genius, and his first challenge as North Carolina’s offensive coordinator is to determine which of six quarterbacks will make the unit most productive. After Thursday’s first practice in which Texas A&M transfer Miles O’Neill, a redshirt sophomore, got the first reps and freshman Travis Burgess was impressive, Petrino was encouraged with what he saw. But the competition is far from settled.
CHAPEL HILL — Amid the backdrop of the HR investigation into General Manager Michael Lombardi, North Carolina began practice on Thursday. Coach Bill Belichick did not address questions about Lombardi, who is on paid administrative leave, or the reported inquiries about the program from the College Sports Commission.
Nearly five weeks before UNC opens its season against TCU in Dublin, Ireland, the football program Bill Belichick built around his inner circle just lost a piece of that circle, at least temporarily.
The sting of the Super Bowl loss to the Seattle Seahawks hasn’t gone away for New England Patriots quarterback Drake Maye, but neither has his hunger and drive to keep getting better. At Patriots training camp on Saturday, Maye talked about last year’s breakout season and what he’s looking for next season, which starts with a national-TV rematch against the Seahawks on Wednesday, Sept. 9.
RALEIGH — Five college football coaches sat side-by-side at the Bill Dooley Pigskin Kickoff on Thursday and covered nearly every corner of a sport in transition: the transfer portal, revenue sharing, the debate over whether Congress should get involved in college athletics and tampering. On the latter, second-year UNC coach Bill Belichick, the highest-paid state employee in North Carolina, said that stopping tampering was above his pay grade.
There will be 31 Tar Heels at NFL training camps that open in the coming days, including nine projected starters, several players who have changed teams and four rookies. Some will report this week, and all will be in camps by Tuesday, July 28.
CHARLOTTE — North Carolina’s offensive line rarely trotted out the same five linemen from game to game a year ago, causing a lack of continuity that left the unit searching for stability throughout the season. Center Christo Kelly experienced that instability from an unusual vantage point. The Holy Cross transfer arrived in Chapel Hill expecting to be a fixture up front, only to be limited to two games because of an injury that sidelined him.
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.
Bryn Renner has seen North Carolina football from every angle imaginable: as a star quarterback in Kenan Stadium and now as a sideline reporter for the Tar Heel Sports Network. On Episode 3 of the “Tar Heel Tribune Podcast,” Renner offered a blunt but empathetic breakdown of what derailed the Tar Heels in 2025, the first season under Coach Bill Belichick, and why he believes better days are ahead in 2026.
