All Tar Heels

Reviewing Size of Tar Heels' Massive Recruiting Class

Have they over-recruited in Bill Belichick's first full class?
Mar 8, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels football coach Bill Belichick before the game at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images
Mar 8, 2025; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels football coach Bill Belichick before the game at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

While many things have played out exactly how Bill Belichick in the North Carolina Tar Heels would like following Mack Brown and the North Carolina Tar Heels' newest addition to the football staff the Tar Heels still have a bit of concern when it comes to the recruiting class.

Unfortunately, something that we see a lot of the time is sometimes teams don’t do badly but they do too good. In fact a lot of teams were often over-recruited, but we are in a situation where one could argue that the Tar Heels have over-recruited a heavy amount.

If you open up the books of the 2026 recruiting class, you will notice that the Tar Heels have already landed 33 commitments in the class before the month of August even kicks off. While this is amazing, and they can bring in plenty of talent. It is also worth noting that this is often an excessive amount of commits.

Bill Belichic
Dec 14, 2024; Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA; North Carolina Tar Heels head football coach Bill Belichick during half time at Dean E. Smith Center. Mandatory Credit: Bob Donnan-Imagn Images | Bob Donnan-Imagn Images

One could question, "what is the sweet spot for commitments?" The answer is pretty simple as you would like to land anywhere from 22 to 26 commitments with the potential of maybe landing a few more commitments and pushing the 28 mark but 33 is a bit excessive, especially if the team is considering entering the transfer portal for many different talents at target who will likely hit as they do every single year.

This is exactly what would be considered excessive, as adding 33 guys who will likely be scholarship players at the next level will be an excessive amount of freshmen and will take away roster spots for those they could bring in from the transfer portal.

however, let’s not take away from what this class brings as they are already inside the top 20 for many different rankings and have many different elite level prospects like Travis Burgess, who is a winning quarterback all around from the state of Georgia as he attends Grayson High School and recently won a state championship title in the hardest division when it comes to Georgia high school.

Belichick is a winner when it comes to the NFL, but once you get to college, you realize that it’s a different ball game because it’s not just about playing on Saturdays, it’s about who you can get playing on Saturdays, which in this case they may be getting just a little bit too much.

Please follow us on X here!


Published
Caleb Sisk
CALEB SISK

Caleb Sisk is a talented sports journalist from the state of Georgia. Originally from Chattanooga, Tennessee, Sisk's passion for sports grew. Bringing years of recruiting coverage experience, he has been named a National Recruiting Reporter and covers various college sites on the On SI network. He takes pride in covering recruiting and has been featured by numerous companies for his excellent coverage and knowledge. He has also spent time at other companies, including Rivals, where he covered the Tennessee Volunteers.