UNC WR coach Lonnie Galloway explains how NIL, transfer portal have impacted UNC recruiting

Through more than 25 years of coaching, Lonnie Galloway has seen a fair amount of change. Nothing has seemingly shifted the advantage even more towards the money-makers of college football than NIL. When it comes to recruiting, however, the North Carolina offensive coordinator believes there are still fundamental elements that NIL – and the transfer portal – haven’t changed, at least not completely.

“You know, it’s still the same, you still got to go out and recruit the guys, find the guys, and identify the guys that fit this university, fit our system; and then just build a relationship with them,” Galloway told the media during his summer availability. “So, I mean, that’s still the backbone of what we do and how we get guys to here.

“There’s just stuff now that you have to deal with, with NIL, getting in the portal, and those types of things that have sometimes messed it up.”

Galloway and the Tar Heels staff reeled in the No. 1 recruiting class in the ACC in 2022. They signed one five-star, 11 four-stars and five three-stars, according to the On3 Consensus. Looking ahead to the 2023 class, UNC is currently trailing four programs with four four-stars and 14 total commits.

Gene Chizik details recruiting/NIL balance at UNC

Gene Chizik recently discussed how the UNC staff handles NIL differently from other programs. Chizik is able to speak strictly football with the recruits he’s trying to get, while a separate department handles NIL talk.

“I think what Coach [Brown] has done is he’s done a great job of — we have silos of people that handle that, and that great for us,” Chizik said. “We’re never in those — I haven’t had one discussion with one human about that. I mean, that’s not our wheelhouse, right? That’s for somebody else who actually has an expertise in that.

“Our job is to again, develop relationships with these guys, show them how we can develop them and show them that they’re going to have an opportunity to come to North Carolina to win. That’s kind of what we hang out hat on defensively— well, everywhere, but especially defensively.”

Successful college assistants like Chizik and Galloway were already putting in countless hours recruiting prospects. Mack Brown is doing his part to take the NIL aspect off of their plates so they can continue doing what they do best – building relationships.

On3’s Stephen Samra contributed to this report.