Success For New-Look Tar Heel Offense Starts Up Front - University of North Carolina Athletics

Each of UNC's five starters on the offensive line had played all 57 snaps in the team's season opener against TCU when the Tar Heels lined up for a crucial 4th-and-1 with less than a minute remaining in the fourth quarter, clinging to a 15-10 lead. Falling victim to UNC quarterback Billy Edwards' hard count, TCU defensive tackle Markis Deal jumped into the neutral zone, convinced Tar Heel center Christo Kelly was snapping the ball for a 58th time. Kelly, alert to his opponent's misstep, immediately slapped Deal's helmet. A referee threw a flag for an offside penalty, and the Tar Heels celebrated a victory secured. "That was one of the best feelings I ever felt," said Kelly, a graduate student in his second season with UNC and one of the team's seven captains. "And it's not just because of me, right? It's because of everything this team does — everything we do day in and day out." Sidelined by an ankle injury, Kelly played in the first two games of the 2025 season before missing the rest of the year. His injury contributed to a lack of consistency the Tar Heels had last year along the offensive line, perhaps the position where that hurts the most. But with Kelly and his four fellow starting linemen going the distance against TCU, there's reason for optimism that cohesiveness up front can give Tar Heels time and space to make big plays this year. That was the case against the Horned Frogs on running back Jaylen McGill's 9-yard touchdown run and on big gainers in the passing game like Edwards' three completions of 20-plus yards to tight end Jelani Thurman . The Tar Heel offensive line also avoided penalties against TCU. Only three flags were called against UNC, none on an offensive lineman. "We're way ahead of where we were last year, and hopefully we can continue to build on that," UNC head coach Bill Belichick said of his offensive line, speaking at his Monday news conference ahead of the Tar Heels' home opener against East Tennessee State Saturday. Besides Kelly, left tackle redshirt junior Jordan Hall and junior right guard Aiden Banfield are back from last season. Banfield, like Kelly, experienced an injury-plagued 2025 season, playing in only five games after earning FWAA Freshman All-America honors in 2024. Hall, in his second year with UNC after starting his career at UAB, started the final four games of the 2025 season and was named the program's most improved player. Transfers Jacqawn McRoy (redshirt sophomore right tackle; Arkansas) and Andrew Threatt (senior left guard; Charleston Southern) rounded out the Tar Heels' starters up front. McRoy, a former four-star recruit, began his career at Oregon before playing in six games (one start) with the Razorbacks under new UNC offensive coordinator Bobby Petrino last year. Threatt earned First-Team All-Conference honors with Charleston Southern in 2025. Each starter on the UNC offensive line is at least 6-foot-3 or taller and 300 pounds or heavier. "When we got man on a man, we were playing physical," Kelly said. "We were playing the brand of football we wanted. You saw it towards the end of the game, being able to wear out TCU." Playing only five offensive linemen may not be a weekly occurrence, but Belichick is encouraged by his group's start and hopeful that their togetherness can be a strength for the offense. "The more those guys player together, the more they can communicate together and see the game through one set of eyes, which is really important," Belichick said. Kelly knows not every game will have a dramatic offside call to seal the deal, nor will there be more celebratory crystal ball trophies to lift like the one at the Aer Lingus Football Classic. But he hopes the way the TCU game concluded becomes a common experience this season. "End the game with the ball in your hands, right?" Kelly said. "That's going to be the most important thing. And when it mattered the most, that's what we were able to do."