The Tar Heels have gone the graduate route to fill football holes.
The last couple of weeks, UNC football has looked more like an NFL franchise picking up players off the waiver wire. Instead of going after undergraduate transfers who must sit out a season per NCAA rules, Larry Fedora and has staff have signed four college graduates, three with one year of eligibility and one with two. The signees fill immediate needs for a program that lost Mitch Trubisky, three receivers, three running backs and three offensive linemen.
The biggest splash was made by former LSU quarterback Brandon Harris, who was mostly a bench warmer in Baton Rouge but has a skill set better suited to the Carolina offense than the Tigers, who ran the ball extensively with All-American back Leonard Fournette. The 6-3, 215-pound Harris is more an option QB and gets a chance to win the job this fall, which of course is not guaranteed.
Fedora will also have a new running back to replace graduated T.J. Logan, Kris Francis and NFL draft entry Elijah Hood. Auburn speedster Stanton Truitt has graduated there in three years and can play two seasons in Chapel Hill. He is 5-9, 185 pounds and can play behind the center or in the slot. He’ll be entering the Masters program at Kenan Flagler Business School.
Two offense linemen are also in the fold; 6-4, 310-pound center Cameron Dillard comes from Florida where he started 20 games for the Gators. He first visited Arizona and was leaning toward the Wildcats and coach Rich Rodriguez, but after later spending three days in Chapel Hill decided on UNC instead.
The latest graduate signee is NOT from an SEC school, but Southern Cal, where offensive guard-tackle Khaliel Rodgers was a back-up for most of his career for a program that traditionally puts behemoth lineman on both sides of the ball. The 6-3, 300-pounder will enter graduate school in sociology after turning away from original choice Iowa State toward Carolina. Clearly, the idyllic UNC campus was a huge drawing point for all of these grad transfers.
Fedora is an obvious innovator on offense, and his spread attack seemed to be another draw where all four players can jump start their goals of playing pro football by transferring here after being creatively recruited and signed off a sort-of graduate school waiver wire by the Tar Heels.
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