The hits keep coming for the Tar Heel football program, as defensive back Storm Duck entered the transfer portal earlier this evening. Storm becomes another member of the secondary to enter the portal, which has already seen the likes of Tony Grimes, Cam’Ron Kelly, and Dontae Balfour, among others, enter the transfer market. Duck has been a key member of the Tar Heel defense, dating back to his freshman season in 2019, although injuries have slowed him in recent seasons. This year was another slow start for Duck, but his season turned a corner in the second half of the Pittsburgh game. Overall, on the season, Duck recorded 46 tackles (36 solo, 10 assisted), intercepted 3 passes, and forced one fumble, as he played the most since his freshman season in 2019. For his career, Duck totaled 103 total tackles, 5 interceptions, 18 passes defended, and one forced fumble.
This is a massive blow to the Tar Heel defense which has been depleted since losing the ACC Championship Game last Saturday against Clemson. Heading into the game, Mack Brown claimed that many players that would start against the Tigers would be in the portal the next week, and while he wasn’t lying, even he has to be taken aback by the drastic number of players exiting the program after a 9-4 season. What’s even more confusing is that this mass player exodus hasn’t resulted from a coach being fired, because as of right now, both Dre Bly and Gene Chizik are still on the staff. With that in mind, that leads you to believe that the reason talented players like Tony Grimes and now Storm Duck are seeking transfers, is that they feel as if the current coaching isn’t getting the most out of them.
Believe it or not, given the lack of depth in the secondary for Carolina, you have to wonder what this means for the status of the bowl game. Carolina is about as thin as they can be with scholarship players, and if more players seek a transfer (which is possible), that could force Carolina to opt out of the bowl game against Oregon, which would be unfortunate for many different reasons, but that is the reality of the new world of college football.