The Tar Heels continue to roll on the 2025 recruiting trail as Bill Belichick landed his third linebacker commit in as many days.
As he revealed on social media on Monday afternoon, 2025 unranked linebacker Jake Bauer has flipped his commitment from Navy to Carolina. The move comes just one day after he received an offer following a weekend visit to Chapel Hill. He also held offers from Air Force, Akron, Army, Boston College, Kent State, Pittsburgh and Temple along with 13 offers from FCS schools.
Bauer just concluded his senior season at Malvern Prep School in Malvern, PA. The team unfortunately has not posted his stats from this season, but he was named a first team all-conference and the conference’s MVP and also received first team all-state honors in the Eastern PA Class 4A. As a junior, he finished with 90 total tackles, 7.0 tackles for loss and three interceptions and was named a first team all-conference member because of it. He also scored six touchdowns as the team’s fullback. He first broke onto the scene as a sophomore in 2022 when he had 51 total tackles, 5.0 tackles for loss, two interceptions, one pass deflection and a fumble recovery.
Bauer is another physical piece that the team has added in the middle of the unit. His speed is outstanding for a linebacker and allows him to cover sideline-to-sideline. The acceleration is what leads to him laying hard hits on the opposing ball carrier, which happens often on film. What allows him to stick out from other linebackers is his coverage ability which is the best out of the three linebackers that the team has added in this class and might be one of the best of anyone in this cycle. His ability to shift his weight and change directions is strong and allows him to shift from covering a receiver to chasing down a ball carrier very smoothly. There is a lot to like about his game, but the question might be how much upside he actually has. The good news is, he already has the feel of a guy who can be a pretty solid linebacker and it would not shock me if he is a guy that makes an impact early in his career.
With his commitment, the Tar Heels now have 18 total commitments in their 2025 class, including eight of which will sign with the team during the upcoming late signing period, which opens on February 7th. Unfortunately, with him not ranked in the ESPN player rankings the class will remain in 60th overall and 14th in the ACC in the 247Sports Composite Team Rankings.
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