The Tar Heels have had their fair share of portal withdrawals since Bill Belichick officially took the job and, on Friday, another player who entered the portal shortly after Mack Brown’s departure officially withdrew.
As first reported by Pete Nakos of On3 Sports, Tar Heel running back Caleb Hood has withdrawn his name from the portal and will return to Chapel Hill for his final season of eligibility. Hood entered the portal back on December 3rd following the firing of Mack Brown.
In his four seasons in a Tar Heel uniform, Hood has played in 25 games, including four starts which all came during the 2022 season. Injuries were a big part of why he hasn’t been able to establish a bigger role in the backfield so far, especially in the last two seasons. In those 25 games, Hood had carried the ball 87 times for 393 yards and two touchdowns and caught the ball 17 times for 157 yards and one touchdown. He has also returned kicks for the team on and off throughout his career, returning three kicks for a total of 55 yards. His best season so far came back in that 2022 season where he ran for 250 yards on 43 carries and caught 13 passes for 119 yards and a touchdown.
This is a nice security move for the Tar Heels backfield which has missed out on their top targets at the running back position so far. This gives the team some much-needed depth here and takes the pressure off the staff when it comes to landing someone at the position in the portal. The hope is that the team can add another back to compliment Davion Gause, but Hood would not be a bad second-string option if they can’t and he can stay healthy.