The Bill Belichick factor has had a mixed impact on UNC’s recruiting. Some wouldn’t stay despite the veteran coach’s addition to the staff. Others saw it as a gold mine opportunity and arrived at Chapel Hill. Bill Belichick has been a busy man when it comes to transfers. Last year, under Mack Brown, North Carolina ranked 38th in the portal. This year, they’ve jumped up to No. 6—42 transfers in and 41 transfers out. But it’s not just Bill Belichick at work. In getting the commitment of one very important player, the coach’s family also chipped in.
Bill Belichick arrived on campus in December last year. And within just a few days, in followed his first win in the transfer portal, OL Christo Kelly. He will be a star in the Tar Heels’ offensive line this year, after wreaking havoc on opponents with his performance at Holy Cross. Kelly signed an agreement with the Tar Heels right after his official visit to Chapel Hill, under the watchful eye of his new head coach. It’s a bump up from Holy Cross, where he was formerly the team captain. For Kelly, it turns out that North Carolina found a place in his heart after conversations with Amanda Belichick, the veteran coach’s daughter.
“It was pretty surreal. I had a good relationship with his daughter, Amanda Belichick, who was the women’s lacrosse coach at Holy Cross. Getting connected through that. The process happened pretty quickly from the first conversation to getting here on the visit,” Kelly told the press on June 10.
“It was like a dream to be able to play at this type of institution at this level. Not just Coach Belichick, but Coach Friend and all the coaches on this staff,” he added further. This is the first time Kelly will play in a major conference, having been with the Patriot League so far. He’s jumping into a Power 4 conference from an FCS school.
Amanda Belichick is now a staple figure in Holy Cross’ athletics, now in her 10th season as HC for her program. She was the Patriot League’s Coach of the Year in 2024, for taking her team to the conference semifinal after 10 years. She’s got that gene in her from her dad and knew that Kelly would make a great fit there. “With Coach Belichick coming here, the pedigree that he brings, the greatest coach of all time, undisputed. It’s pretty remarkable. I had Amanda Belichick reach out to me and get me connected here. From there, go through that process and get evaluated. It was a perfect fit,” he added.
Committed @UNCFootball pic.twitter.com/rSGA8heVn1
— Christo Kelly (@christo_kelly42) December 16, 2024
At Holy Cross, Kelly helped the team win their sixth consecutive Patriot League championship and was a first-team All-Patriot League member. He starred in an offensive line that allowed just 1.08 sacks per game. Kelly was a loyal Crusader for five straight seasons, but the Belichick opportunity was too good an opportunity to miss out on. He already had a way in because of the Amanda Belichick connection, and Kelly became a Tar Heel very quickly after the coach sought his commitment. Going by his insights into the way Bill Belichick is shaping the Tar Heels’ 2025 team, UNC seems like a great place to be.
Christo Kelly sings high praise about UNC under Bill Belichick
There’s a night and day difference between Holy Cross and UNC football. Though the ACC is already burdened with a lot of bad rap, the Tar Heels have become the conference’s trump cards. Kelly acknowledged the heaps of benefits he has access to at Chapel Hill, giving a picture of how Bill Belichick is rejuvenating the quality of UNC football. “The resources that we have here in North Carolina are pretty tremendous. From the facilities to the academic support. We obviously have a graduate school here. The resources were a huge advantage. Just being able to have that at your disposal, being able to come here pretty much whenever was a huge advantage,” he told the press.
Kelly is having a gala time at Chapel Hill, learning from one of the best coaching minds in the sport. He admitted that it was easy to become starry-eyed initially because of the NFL legacy Belichick built for himself. “But when you get here and you see the way that he carries, you see the way that he approaches the game, and you see how hard he works. There’s no question why he has the success that he has. The attention to detail and the emphasis on fundamentals really just create competition for the guys. That’s what’s getting built here,” Kelly said, in high praise of his coach’s perspective for UNC.
However, Kelly, like most other departments, will be featuring in a very inexperienced room. He will be joining Austin Blaske, Treyvon Green, and Aidan Banfield, who started at the O-line last year. There are also freshmen talents to work on. But he’s excited about the development nonetheless. “Everyone’s kind of gelling together. Again, it’s the iron sharpens iron. When we’re running those bouts, it’s tough. It’s about the most tired you’re ever going to get. You see the guys to the left, to the right, giving everything they have. It speaks to the culture of the whole team,” Kelly said.
Bill Belichick had his work cut out for him in this very new stage. He is getting the attention that UNC needed all this while, probably beyond what the staff expected. He’s putting Chapel Hill on the map of college football for good, with talented and contributing players like Christo Kelly.
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