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Mack Brown describes how recruiting has been changed by transfer portal, NIL

Grant Grubbs Profile Pictureby:Grant Grubbs•11/14/24•

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Mack Brown, UNC
Mack Brown, UNC - © Matt Krohn-Imagn Images

With 50 years of coaching experience under his belt, Mack Brown has watched the college football landscape change time and time again. On Monday, the North Carolina head coach revealed how the transfer portal and NIL have changed recruiting.

“It’s interesting that there’s a lot more talk about portal now than there is recruiting. It’s changed that much,” Brown said. “You’re looking at guys now that are transferring, like the quarterback at Wake, this is his third school, and we fought our guts out to get Tez [Walker] to play at a third school. He didn’t even play at the first one.

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“Now, here we are. We got guys that are at their fifth school. So it’s just changed so much, and it continues to change daily. We tell our coaches to stay off social media and don’t worry about what’s happening in the lawsuits and revenue sharing.”

While Brown was unclear whether he approves of the changes, he’s certainly adjusted to them. This offseason, North Carolina added 10 players via the NCAA Transfer Portal, earning the No. 31 transfer class, according to On3’s Transfer Portal Team Rankings.

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In comparison, North Carolina added 27 freshmen this offseason, including three four-star recruits. However, the Tar Heels seemingly haven’t put as much of an emphasis on recruiting from the high school ranks in the 2025 cycle.

The team currently has the 54th-best incoming class in the 2025 cycle, with only 11 commits. Mack Brown may be thinking ahead, as programs will soon have a cap on their NIL spending.

“You’re going to have to start deciding who gets paid more because it’s going to be salary caps, and you can’t pay them all the same,” Brown said. “You’re actually going to have to say, ‘This safety is going to get this much money, so this safety is going to get less.’ And I’m sorry, but if you don’t like it, transfer, because that’s just the way we feel.

“Not only are you going to have to do a better job of evaluating before they get here, you’re going to have to do a great job of evaluating who you’ve got, and then you’re going to have to develop who you’ve got.”