UNC Football: Buying and Selling Training Camp Hype

Fair or not, you can make excuses for the North Carolina Tar Heels' lack of success in 2025; there will be none this upcoming season. Because Bill Belichick was hired as head coach late in the process last offseason, he was not given a full opportunity to assemble a roster.

This offseason, with a full year under their belt, the Tar Heels' brass was able to fully construct a plan to improve the roster via the transfer portal and recruiting class. With that being said, we are going to focus on a couple of players and determine if I am buying or selling the hype surrounding them heading into training camp.

Hype I'm Buying: Demon June

Nov 22, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels running back Demon June (12) is wrapped by Duke Blue Devils defensive end Bryce Davis (14) during the first half at Kenan Stadium. Mandatory Credit: William Howard-Imagn Images | IMAGN IMAGES via Reuters Connect

North Carolina deployed a three-headed committee in the backfield in 2025. With Davion Gause out of the picture, the path has cleared for June to take over as the clear RB1. Last season, the 5-foot-11, 215-pound running back produced 464 rushing yards and two touchdowns on 84 carries, while adding 159 receiving yards and one touchdown on 17 catches.

Earlier this week, wide receiver Jordan Shipp mentioned the sophomore running back as a breakout candidate. With an expanded role, I expect June to take a major step and potentially transform into a potent threat in the rushing attack while filling a complementary role in the passing attack.

“On offense, I don’t want to give away too much, but I’d say Demon June," Shipp said. "He’s grown a lot more. June is [going to] be a great player. He’s [going to] help us out a lot. The biggest thing for him is his ability to work. At first, early on, being a freshman, he wasn’t pushing as hard. I had one or two talks with him and told him, ‘Just run with me. Let’s run together, let’s push each other,’ and he’s really bought into that. Now he’s pushing guys and holding the standard the same way."

Hype I'm Selling: Billy Edwards Jr.

UNC football quarterback Billy Edwards Jr. (9) could be the Tar Heels' starting quarterback in the 2026 season. Edwards was still wearing a brace on his left knee during the Tar Heels' spring practices. | USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect

While the hype train is not off the rails, murmurs around Chapel Hill are that the Wisconsin transfer quarterback is expected to be the Week 1 starter ahead of training camp. During that time, North Carolina will conduct an open quarterback competition, and even though Edwards Jr. is the favorite to win the job, I don't buy him as a legitimate solution.

Through four seasons - three at Maryland and one at Wisconsin - the 6-foot-3, 227-pound quarterback has compiled 3,430 passing yards, 19 passing touchdowns, 10 interceptions, 375 rushing yards, and 13 rushing touchdowns while completing 62.1 percent of his passes. Quite frankly, I'm not impressed, and despite the lack of experience, the Tar Heels would be better off starting Travis Burgess at quarterback to open the season.

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