Bill Belichick, UNC Losing Star Linebacker to Transfer Portal

Liam McKeone | 8 Hours Ago

Bill Belichick’s best tackler from his defense this year is entering the transfer portal. / Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

Bill Belichick’s first season coaching UNC has been a wild ride. The off-field narratives surrounding his girlfriend, Jordon Hudson, have been lightning rods for attention. On the field Belichick’s Tar Heels struggled, going 4-8 with the all-time great NFL coach at the helm. Now Belichick is losing one of his top defenders to the transfer portal.

On Thursday, Tar Heels linebacker Khmori House announced his intention to enter the transfer portal via his agency. House led UNC with 78 combined tackles and tacked on a sack, an interception and 2.5 tackles for loss in 2025.

It’s a big loss for Belichick’s program. House ranked 15th in the ACC in total tackles while manning the defense. It isn’t guaranteed the linebacker will move on, as he could return to UNC if he doesn’t like what he finds in the transfer portal, but it’s quite likely he’ll move on.

Making things more problematic is that UNC’s second-leading tackler, Andrew Simpson, just finished up his final year of eligibility. So the Tar Heels will enter the offseason without their top two tacklers from 2025, which means Belichick has some work to do in recruiting circles to replace their production.

Belichick’s contract with the Tar Heels is set to run for four more seasons after the longtime Patriots coach spent decades at the NFL level. His move into the collegiate realm hasn’t been very smooth even taking away the controversy surrounding Hudson. UNC was not very competitive in most of their losses and failed to take on most of the fundamental traits of Belichick’s NFL teams.

But, in fairness to him, successful college programs aren’t built overnight. This will be his first full offseason as UNC’s coach, which will presumably provide him with more opportunities to shape the roster as he sees fit. Next year should prove quite telling in regards to just how successful Belichick can be at this level.

In the meantime he’ll have to find a replacement for House. Not an easy task considering his numbers this season.

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