North Carolina OT Jakiah Leftwich enters NCAA transfer portal

North Carolina offensive tackle Jakiah Leftwich has entered the NCAA transfer portal, On3’s Hayes Fawcett reported Wednesday. He spent only one season with the Tar Heels after transferring from Georgia Tech and will have one year of eligibility remaining.

Leftwich appeared in nine games this past season in Chapel Hill with one start. He played in 17 games across his two-year career with the Yellow Jackets, starting eight.

The 6-foot-6 offensive lineman played high school football at Westlake (GA), where he was a three-star recruit in the 2021 class. He ranked as the No. 811 overall player and No. 79 offensive tackle in the cycle according to the On3 Industry Ranking, a weighted average that utilizes all four major recruiting media companies.

North Carolina has now lost nine players to the transfer portal, including Leftwich. The Tar Heels made a coaching change this offseason, going from Mack Brown to former New England Patriots coach and six-time Super Bowl champion Bill Belichick.

So far, UNC has also added three players through the portal and ranks No. 55 in On3’s Transfer Portal Team Rankings. Look for them to continue to be active in the portal with things just getting started in the Belichick era.

To keep up with the latest players on the move, check out On3’s Transfer Portal wire. 

The On3 Transfer Portal Instagram account and Twitter account are excellent resources to stay up to date with the latest moves.

Holy Cross OL transfer Christo Kelly commits to Bill Belichick, North Carolina

On Monday, former Holy Cross center Christo Kelly committed to North Carolina, becoming the first transfer commitment for Belichick. Kelly entered the portal on Nov. 25.

Belichick was known for drafting players many have never heard of from schools many are not familiar with during his time as New England Patriots head coach. This continues that trend, as Kelly spent nearly a month in the portal before ultimately making his move to sign with the Tar Heels.

However, just because Holy Cross isn’t a well-known football school around the country doesn’t mean Kelly is any less of a prospect. He was a team captian for his squad this past season and was named to the All-Patriot League First Team as well as being put on the AFCA Good Works Team (only 22 players in America are named to this each year) and on the Academic All-Patriot League team.

2024 was Kelly’s fifth year playing college football, per his Holy Cross athletic bio. As a team captain, Kelly started all 12 games for them at center. He anchored an offensive line that allowed just 1.08 sacks per game — which led the Patriot League and was rated No. 11 nationally. Their offensive unit averaged 27.6 points per game in 2024.

On3 Barkley Truax contributed to this report.