There isn’t a lot of news around the Tar Heels when it comes to official visits and top school lists, but the team is pushing to flip one of the top in-state defensive players in this class.
As first reported by Don Callahan on Wednesday, Bill Belichick and his staff are pushing hard to flip 2026 4✮ DL Trashawn Ruffin, who is currently committed to Texas A&M. The team is one of three schools that will have the opportunity to do that over the summer.
So far, Ruffin has set four total official visit dates. It starts with a trip to LSU on May 30th before he will officially be in Chapel Hill the weekend of June 6th. He will then take his official visit with Texas A&M the following weekend before closing out his official visit schedule with a trip to South Carolina on the weekend of June 20th.
Ruffin, the No. 266 overall player and No. 15 player in the state of North Carolina in the 2026 class according to the 247Sports Composite Player Rankings, hails from North Duplin High School in Mount Olive, NC. This past season, as a junior, he collected 34 total tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, one quarterback hurry and one fumble recovery in nine games. The year prior, as a sophomore, he broke out by tallying 52 total tackles, 4.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, two quarterback hurries and one fumble recovery. He got his career off to a nice start in 2022, when he finished with 31 total tackles, 2.0 tackles for loss, 4.0 sacks, one forced fumble and one fumble recovery.
When it comes to the Tar Heels chances to actually complete the flip, it feels like they have a legitimate shot here. According to sources, the team is pushing incredibly hard to flip his commitment and they have the advantage of being the only in-state team still in the hunt for him. Because of that and the perk of having Belichick on the sidelines, it feels like they might just be the biggest threat to flip his commitment.
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