North Carolina football news: Tar Heels lose starting safety to transfer portal
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The North Carolina Tar Heels revitalized interest in head coach Bill Belichick’s program with a 15-10 Week 0 win over the TCU Horned Frogs in Ireland that showed how well the team’s improving defense is capable of playing.
College GameDay host Pat McAfee bought into Belichick’s program, picking them to win the ACC on Saturday’s show. The McAfee pick came on the same day as personnel news involving former Tar Heels starting safety Gavin Gibson, who revealed that he will enter the transfer portal, according to CBS Sports’ Matt Zenitz.
Gibson started all 12 games at safety for the Tar Heels in 2025 and was the team’s second-best run defender according to Pro Football Focus. Gibson was not taken in the 2026 NFL Draft but landed an invite to the Kansas City Chiefs’ minicamp after meeting with the team at the 2026 Hula Bowl in DeLand, Florida. He transferred to Belichick’s program from East Carolina after the 2024 season and two seasons with the Maryland Terrapins.
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Now with 47 games of college football experience under his belt, Gibson will search for a new team while the Tar Heels defense will move on after holding the Horned Frogs to 281 total yards in their season opener.
North Carolina’s leading tacklers against TCU included defensive end/linebacker Derek McDonald with 11 and defensive tackle Leroy Jackson with eight. The Tar Heels have not won a bowl game since the 2019 Military Bowl and had become an afterthought on the national college football scene until the addition of the six-time Super Bowl title-winning head coach Belichick on December 11, 2024.
Belichick was 4-8 with the Tar Heels last season, a 33.3 percent winning percentage, before leading his team to their opening-game victory. Next up is a home game against East Tennessee State at Kenan Memorial Stadium in Chapel Hill at 12 p.m. ET on September 12.
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