The North Carolina Tar Heels will be one wide receiver less after it was reported that Aziah Johnson has left the program.
The redshirt sophomore played in only one game for the Tar Heels, securing one reception for six yards in UNC’s 20-3 win against Charlotte.
Previously, Johnson spent two seasons with Michigan State. He ended up redshirting the first season, but got a decent look in his second season with 276 receiving yards on 16 receptions.
However, now after one game with the Heels, it’s back to the transfer portal for Johnson.
He ended up signing with the Tar Heels on the heels of the program hiring future Hall of Famer and six-time Super Bowl winning coach, Bill Belichick. And now that he’s entering the portal yet again, it’s likely that Johnson will be able to redshirt again.
Johnson was a three-star prospect coming out of high school, and a three-star when he initially entered the portal. It’s clear that the talent is there. Even though he got limited reps while with Michigan State, he made the most out of them, averaging over 18 yards per catch and two touchdowns.
The major questions here are, what exactly happened? Why the quick jump back into the portal? Did the player and coach not mesh? Was the player promised more playing time?
It’s fascinating timing given how we’re four weeks deep into the season, and based on the amount of reps Johnson got, it was clear he wasn’t in Belichick’s plans.
The majority of the passes have been to Jordan Shipp and Javarius Green, while it looks like Belichick is opting to run the ball more frequently.
Caleb Hood was originally supposed to be the lead running back, however, the freshman Demon June has had himself quite the two games, rushing for 200 yards.
UNC Football has been in the news quite a bit because of Belichick and the life he leads off the field, but also because of the recent drama between him and his former NFL team, the New England Patriots.
In Belichick’s first college game, the Tar Heels got walloped by TCU, 48-14 after there being a tremendous hype about the program. Later though, UNC bounced back by defeating both Charlotte and FCS Richmond.
North Carolina's next game is Saturday at UCF, att 3:30 p.m. ET.