North Carolina football started to swing new recruiting momentum its direction just two weeks ago. Bill Belichick and the Tar Heels, however, took a massive hit involving twin in-state top five talents. Ohio State and Texas are near the forefront for these 2026 talents, but not the in-state power conference university.
Belichick and the ‘Heels have lost their college football recruiting grip on twin defensive talents Aidan and Andrew Harris. The natives of Matthews, North Carolina don’t list the Tar Heels in their final short list. Recruiting insider for On3 Hayes Fawcett revealed UNC didn’t make the cut Wednesday night.
The edge rushers instead place defending national champion Ohio State on their list. Texas also joins the mix. Penn State and Oregon are two more College Football Playoff qualifiers the pass rushing siblings are considering.
More surprising is North Carolina State, not Belichick’s UNC, is the only in-state college that made their final 10. And the Wolf Pack weren’t the last from the Atlantic Coast Conference to crack their list. ACC rival Miami is in their pool of options for college.
Bill Belichick, North Carolina losing recruiting luster?
This recruiting development is far different compared to St. Patrick’s Day for Belichick and company.
The eight-time Super Bowl winning head coach flipped Texas A&M defensive tackle Trashawn Ruffin. But the move kept an in-state talent home for Belichick and his crew. Ruffin’s change of heart handed UNC nine verbal commits for Belichick’s 2026 class.
Belichick and UNC weren’t through with just adding Ruffin. North Carolina bolstered Belichick’s future defense by swooping up Smith Vilbert of Penn State via the transfer portal. But the legendary NFL head coach and his newest team are losing their recruiting luster in recent weeks.
Belichick and North Carolina lost 2026 quarterback commit Zaid Lott on March 25. Lott was one of the last Mack Brown commits before Belichick took over.
Now a pair of high-profile twin siblings don’t have UNC on their short list. Aiden Harris ranks second among defensive linemen by 247Sports composite. Andrew Harris is On3’s third-ranked edge rusher in North Carolina. And both star at Weddington High — located under two hours and 30 minutes south of the Chapel Hill campus.
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