New North Carolina coach Bill Belichick turned to a familiar part of the country to add his first commitment from the transfer portal Monday.
Holy Cross offensive lineman Christo Kelly announced he was committed to the Tar Heels in a post on X. Kelly shared a photo of himself signing a piece of paper while Belichick looked on.
Committed @UNCFootball pic.twitter.com/rSGA8heVn1
— Christo Kelly (@christo_kelly42) December 16, 2024
Kelly, a 6-foot-4, 305-pound graduate transfer and All-Patriot League first-team selection from Wilmette, Ill., has been the starter at center for Holy Cross for the last two seasons. Holy Cross is located in Worcester, Mass., less than an hour’s drive from Belichick’s old workplace in Foxboro. Belichick’s daughter, Amanda, is Holy Cross’ head women’s lacrosse coach.
Belichick officially became North Carolina coach on Dec. 11 and is coaching in college for the first time after spending his entire career in the NFL. The six-time Super Bowl winner said Monday on “The Pat McAfee Show” that UNC has players from the transfer portal “coming in pretty much every day this week” as he assembles his roster for 2025.
“We’re selling the program, but quite honestly, a lot of players and agents are coming to us saying, ‘We want to be part of the program, is there a spot for us,’” Belichick said.
“We’ve been talking to a number of players and we’ve got guys coming in every day this week..
We’re selling the program but a lot of players and agents are coming to us saying that we wanna be part of the program” ~ Coach Belichick #PMSLive pic.twitter.com/OI5Bcy9vji
— Pat McAfee (@PatMcAfeeShow) December 16, 2024
He added: “We’re spending money. Not as much as we spent in the NFL but we’re tossing around a little bit of money. I kind of enjoy seeing the players getting compensated for the arrangement that they’re going to be going into.”
Belichick picked up his first major recruiting win Saturday, when four-star quarterback Bryce Baker said he would stick with his commitment to UNC following Mack Brown’s departure and Belichick’s hiring. Baker, ranked No. 80 overall and the No. 8 quarterback in the Class of 2025 in the 247Sports Composite, visited Penn State on Nov. 30 but kept his commitment after a phone call with Belichick.
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How Kelly fits into UNC’s roster build
Kelly is likely the first of several linemen Belichick and general manager Michael Lombardi will look to bring in via the portal this cycle.
The Tar Heels have to replace starting right guard Willie Lampkin, who is out of eligibility, and left tackle Howard Sampson, who left via the transfer portal. Belichick was able to convince starting left guard Aidan Banfield, a true freshman, and center Austin Blaske, who has one year left of eligibility, to take their names out of the portal and return to school. Third-leading tackler Amare Campbell, a sophomore linebacker with two years of eligibility, was also convinced to return to Chapel Hill.
North Carolina finished 6-6 in Brown’s final season, ranking 34th in scoring offense (32.3) behind the second-leading rusher in the country in Omarion Hampton (138 rushing yards per game, 15 TDs). Hampton is off to the NFL.
UNC’s defense needs some upgrades as well after ranking 76th in yards per play allowed (5.68) and 91st in points allowed (28.2 per game). — Manny Navarro, college football writer
(Photo: Grant Halverson / Getty Images)
